The Exile
by Kitsune to Tenshi-chan
Summary: This story follows the anime. What would happen if an exile, a soul forbidden to exist, joined the team on their adventures? Kurama x Male! OC. Rated M just in case I try to do something and for foul language.
1. Nobunaga

So for those of you who are re-reading this story from the beginning or just starting I'd like to let you all know that this is a slight revision of the first chapter. I will be doing this to the rest of the chapters as well because thanks to a viewer who messaged me on PM, I have noticed that there are several inconsistencies with the story that I need to fix and I know I also have grammatical errors that have been bugging me. The story will remain the same but I will have re-done a few key aspects that I failed to put in before. Hopefully this will be a bit better than the chapters originally posted. Anyway to end my part here:

Please remember to review. I encourage you all to leave opinions and criticism regarding my writing. I wish to improve my skills and your reviews will help immensely. However I also ask that the readers do not leave flames. There is a difference between criticism and flames. Criticism involves the reader explaining where certain parts could have been improved or taken out. Flaming a person on the other hand involves degrading insults not only towards the writer's story but to the writer as well. All I ask of everyone is for you to be honest but civil in your reviews or private messages. I will not take offense to criticism involving my fanfiction but insults toward my person in general is not something I tolerate. Now let's get on with this before I start sounding like Kankri Vantas from Homestuck.

Disclaimer: I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own my male OC Nobunaga. If any of you reading this are not fond of stories involving yaoi then I must ask you to return to the previous page and move on. Thank you.

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**Chapter 1: My Life Before and My Life now**

Creatures have called me by many names in my lifetime but never have they spoken of my true name. I have always been called 'freak', 'hanyou', 'demon', 'scum', 'monster', and most of all 'exile'. You must be wondering at this point who I am. All will be revealed after I speak to you of how my life used to be and how it is now. You may have noticed that I use the word 'creatures' and not 'people'. Well, I can tell you one thing: I am not a human. You must be thinking that I am a demon then. I am sorry to tell you that assumption is wrong. If I am neither human or demon then what am I? Sometimes I find myself asking that as well to be honest. I suppose that this is a good time to tell you, starting with my family.

My mother Nataku was what humans referred to as a 'majou' or 'witch'. To me she was the most beautiful woman there could ever be with long flowing hair as black as night and skin as white as freshly fallen snow. It was her eyes that were her main beauty however. Her left eye brown as rich earth whereas her right eye shown like the blue of the ocean's depths. To humans she was seen as a demon with her unearthly beauty. However to demons and other witches, she was known and feared as the 'Witch Queen'. The strongest of witches who oversaw that no other covens would break the rules set in place by her. Others of her kind cowered at her proficiency in witchcraft and combat.

My father Asano on the other hand was referred to as a shinigami or a god of death. A collector and judge of souls. He was a tanned man with long chestnut hair that was often tied back into a ponytail. He had kind amber eyes set into a lean face, and an even kinder heart. Make no mistake though. My father was as fierce as he was kind. If threatened, he could plow his opponents down before they could make their first move.

Witches and Shinigami are enemies by nature of their powers. Witches vary depending on their birth. There are three categories: Human-born, Demon-born, and Soul-born. Human-born are the descendants of the first humans that practiced witchcraft. The fragments of magic that coursed through the veins of the predecessors is passed on. They are the most common of the categories to be found.

Demon-born witches are demons who practice witchcraft. However in many cases they do not develop their own powers through actual practice but by devouring the souls of those who have. Without honed senses they are much more difficult to detect than human-born as the demonic energy that courses through them normally overpowers the witch energy. They are slightly less common than the human counterpart but nonetheless can be run into at anytime without knowledge.

Soul-born are the rarest of the three. They are the consummation of two spirits and said to gain power from either parent but never both. Soul-born witches have more of an affinity for the dark arts than human or demon-born witches due to their spiritual background. It is said that if the child were to gain power from both parents, that child would be known as a forbidden child. However if this was possible the children were lost by either one of two ways:

The powers were too great for the child to handle thus destroying its soul at birth or the child and both parents would be slaughtered by soldiers sent from the Reikai (Spirit realm). The Reikai was in charge of overseeing the balance between the Ningenkai (Human realm) and the Makai (Demon realm). A Soul-born child with both powers was believed to throw off the balance and perceived as a threat. Thus why the Reikai sought to rid the problem. My mother herself was a Soul-born witch. The daughter of a tree spirit and tengu, she inherited the ability to shape-shift from one parent moving on to practice witchcraft later in life.

Shinigami and witches are two sides of a coin. Shinigami reap the souls of the dead where they are given a final judgement by King Enma. Many witches throughout time on the other hand have used souls as a means of survival, whether using life force to keep living or absorb souls to become stronger, it goes against the principles and code of the shinigami. In short, they have been enemies since the beginning.

My father once told me of how he met my mother. With a faraway look in those amber orbs, he spoke of a time long ago when he and a team of his fellow shinigami were sent to track down the souls of the dead in the Ningenkai. Before they could leave back to their realm he'd caught sight of an injured fox hiding itself deep within the roots of a tree. He laughed telling me that he'd always had a weakness for animals of the human realm deciding that he would nurse the creature's wounds and release it. What he hadn't realized however was that it was a witch disguising itself as the animal after it endured a rather fierce battle with a particularly powerful demon-born. It kept its spiritual energy low enough that even with my father's sense he wouldn't have been able to detect it.

When its wounds were completely healed my father released it only for the fox to transform revealing Nataku the witch queen. My father was prepared for battle only for the witch to speak in a voice laced with calm. My father had rescued her and shown her kindness. It was rare for her, but she would not harm the one who had cared for her despite being her enemy. He had shown her kindness. A trait considered worthless by her kind as to them it was weakness. She transformed into a raven leaving my father baffled but intrigued. There were times that he would set out to find her though most of those efforts were in vain. She was wanted by Reikai as a criminal but he found himself fascinated by her very being. The few ties that he was able to locate her he would follow asking questions. Mother would ignore him but grew annoyed by his constant questions and soon answered back along with asking questions of her own. He smiled explaining that it grew from that to an odd sort of friendship. From that friendship my mother had fallen for my father. Not for his power but for the strength of the heart which he possessed. My father had also fallen for her in return but unlike those who had fallen for her appearance, his love was genuine falling for her quick wit, snark and all.

It was later on that I was conceived in secret. Mother once told me that I my energy almost killed me but somehow I'd managed to survive. I was a forbidden one. A Soul-born child that contained the power of both Shinigami and Witch. The Reikai soon sensed this unbalance and were appalled at the fact that one of their own had consummated with an enemy. Words spread quickly for soon witches, human, demon, and soul-born alike, and demons were shocked and disgusted at the fact that a witch would have had child with a shinigami.

My parents came to an agreement that we needed to go into hiding to protect themselves and myself and so my mother opened a portal to a realm between the demon, human, and spirit realms that had been long forgotten. It is deemed the Jigoku Realm. A land surrounded by dense forest and where the sky was blocked by gray clouds save for the night when the stars would shine through the inky blackness. A realm that once connected all three but was separated when demons tried to eradicate the human race. Only wild creatures of both the Ningenkai and Makai survived there: not a soul in sight, but for me it was called home as I grew from infant to child.

My mother and father spent their days teaching me their crafts. For my mother that meant teaching me of spells, potions and summonings. I had also inherited her ability to shape-shift. Day after day, cries of various animals could be heard echoing throughout the forest as we made a game of hunting each other down transforming into all sorts of animals. My father taught me the way of the deathscythe. His own weapon being a scythe with a blade so black that no light would ever reflect upon its surface. He called it 'Oblivion' as those who met the blade would have darkness be the last thing they ever saw. My own scythe was revealed to take form as a pair of knuckle blades which did require a different practice but nonetheless my father helped me understand how to wield them. Their teachings would help me if I ever had to deal with those who wanted me dead. For me it was my life and I accepted it. I was happy for a long while.

However as unfortunate as it may be, all good things must come to an end at some point. I never knew how dreadful it would be though. I was but a young child when the spirit world finally located us. My father deemed a traitor, fought against the shinigami he'd once worked along side with while my mother took me and summoned a portal. All I can remember is her running through the forest in a blur and her tears of sadness. I was too young to understand what was going on but she stopped in the middle of a clearing where I could see fallen statues on the earthen floor. She brought me through a crevice in between the statues into what seemed like a temple where it appeared monks were praying when suddenly one stepped in front of my mother. He had a face that reminded me of a bird. She told me that she may not return and that she and my father loved me. She left soon after telling the man to watch over me in their absence. She had left me with the tribe of Tengu where her father had once lived. Long ago they had been outcasted by humans for their bird like appearances and remained in the forest they called home protecting it from harm. I waited for my mother day and night but by the third day I knew that she would not return. Inside myself I felt a burning rise within me. Hatred, grief, and pain rose until I felt like I would burst. Those people had killed them! I knew they had! Why else would I have been left behind.

The Tengu were kind to me though and acted as something of a second family. They taught me magic just as my mother did but also how to utilize and control it. Their teachings on weapons also helped me in combat though I preferred the feeling of my knuckle blades between my fingers. The man who my mother had entrusted me with, Yoshihiro, told me about demons and humans. He told me that humans were ignorant and power-hungry and that demons of the Makai craved only power and blood. At first I didn't believe him about humans but I learned the hard way that humans could not be trusted after I had saved a young girl from the hands of a pervert and yet she dared to call me a monster and ran screaming for someone to kill me. An entire village almost killed me that night and demons roamed every corner of the forest trying to kill and eat souls. Yoshihiro was right and I wanted to go back to the place that I called home. Yet at the same time I was curious about the rest of the world. Were other creatures truly like Yoshihiro described? I wanted to see for myself.

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After decades of living with the Tengu I explored the human realm for myself. Yet as I kept traveling I grew more and more disappointed with humans. Nothing but war, bloodshed, naviety and greed. The few humans who did not succumb to these were far few and in-between. The demon world was no better. I remember a time when I was attacked by a horde of demons wanting to devour my soul because of my spirit energy. They believed that it would make them all the more powerful.

I grew disgusted by the worlds and those who inhabited them. My hatred for the spirit realm still remained as well. They had given up on the search for me long ago after executing my parents. However it wasn't long before a few shinigami found me and tried to kill me. I however, managed to kill them with my scythe and yet I was still captured. I was brought to the spirit world to a toddler of all things to be judged for killing some shinigami. They were no better, they had killed my parents who had tried to protect me. Yet the toddler Koemna wanted to strike a deal with me.

The spirit world was after an item that ,if in the wrong hands, could destroy any of the worlds. He wanted me to bring him an item known as the Forlorn Hope. It was a mirror that mother had used often to help her grant the wishes of her clients but at a price. The client would lose his soul in the end as the price for his wish. Koenma told me: "Bring the Forlorn Hope and the Reikai will leave you alone. I will make sure of it." If I didn't do this then there wasn't a chance that I would be spared my life. I wanted to destroy them. I wanted to say "Death would be much better than having to deal with the likes of you." I remembered what my mother once said to me though. _Life is precious and you musn't waste it or else you wouldn't have lived a life at all. _She and my father once hoped that I would have been able to find my own happiness even with the hell they knew that I would face. Had they still lived they would have been disappointed in my wanting to rather be dead.

Begrudgingly I accepted on the condition that he would make sure that the mirror would not be harmed. I knew that my boyhood home would not be the same as it once was. Whatever items of my parents remained, I wished to find and keep to never forget them.

I remember where mother hid the mirror clearly. She did not keep it within her trove of artifacts but in her's and father's room in the crumbling tower I once called home. It was almost completely destroyed now. Rubble lay everywhere and furniture inside the tower was completely rotted through. items had been destroyed and tampered with. I recognized them belonging to both my parents. It appeared as though the shinigami who'd fought with my father went through their belongings.

Through the mix of rubble and foliage I came upon what I had been looking for. A ordinary looking box that when opened looked as if it only contained gaudy baubbles and trinkets. That wasn't real though. It was a seal placed by my mother to disguise her artifacts. I picked up a particularly large bracelet and broke the seal surrounding it. In its place was a mirror about the size of my hand framed by bronze. The Forlorn Hope. I broke the seals surround the other artifacts and looked through them. I decided that I would keep them. Better that than bring them to Koenma to be locked away when I could use them myself for emergencies. I hid the box again and went back to the Reikai realm handing Koenma the mirror. He told me that the realm would now leave me alone unless I committed an act against their rules or against any of the worlds. I agreed. I had no use for humans or demons anyway.

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I was finally free and for the past several centuries I have wandered in and out of the Ningenkai and Makai realms. I would go into the Reikai but never to far lest I be executed on the spot by their soldiers. I have seen many despicable things that humans are capable of and I have seen how much power rules over the minds of those in the makai realm. I am both fascinated and disgusted by them. I rebuilt my home into a new tower over time and those who have entered the nether realm come to try to take my soul (mostly demons mind you) have more often than not meant a grusome fate by my own hands. I explore and each time I find something of interest I bring it back with me for my own collection. I live alone not wanting company of any kind.

Creatures have called me many things.

I am an exile.

A forbidden soul never meant to exist.

A boy who lost his parents in the cruelest of ways.

A young man who still feels the grief and pain.

A reaper.

A spell caster.

A warrior.

I am not a monster.

I am the son of a reaper and a witch.

I am Nobunaga.

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**Author's note:** Once again this has been a rewrite of the first chapter. I hope that this was better than the previous one. There were a lot of things that I had planned for this story to come into later but as I kept reading through it I found that it would just become plain confusing so a rewrite was needed.

There are a few things that I want to explain here so if you don't mind reading this note please continue to do so.

I had shinigami use various weapons as their scythes just in the anime Kuroshitsuji because I felt the variation was better to use in a story and using the word scythe in general would be too repetitive. As for the naming of the scythes Nobunaga will reveal the name of his later on.

Hanyou- Half-breed

Ningenkai- Name for the human realm

Makai- name for the demon realm

Jigoku- The nether realm or the dark realm where Nobunaga resides. Again to those who have read the original chapters I used google translate for this because nether realm literally translates to 'Jigoku'.

Reikai- Name for the spirit realm

Majou- witch

Shinigami-Grim reaper

That is all for now. Please let me know what you think of the rest of the rewritten chapters. The rest of them will not really be changed drastically but just minor things as well as grammatical errors.

Ja'ne-Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	2. He wants the mirror back

Hello again everyone this is a slight rewrite of chapter 2. Again nothing has changed much in this chapter except for fixing grammatical errors and some of the dialect.

Once again I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own my OC. I ask for you all to remember to leave a review, any criticism regarding the chapter, and to not flame. Thank you.

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Chapter 2: He wants the mirror back

To say that Nobunaga was furious was an understatement. The spirit world asks for the Forlorn Hope and the next thing you know, it's stolen along with the rest of the Artifacts of Darkness from the vault. Now he didn't care that the other items were taken from the vault but the Forlorn Hope was a different story. Nobunaga stomped through spirit world to Koenma's office planning to give the toddler a piece of his mind. _I swear the f***ing brat is going to pay. I wonder how he'd fare if I summoned one of my creatures. Hehehe can't wait to see him squirm. H_e thought as his allowed his body to shift into a different form.

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To say that Koenma was having a panic attack would be an understatement. Not too long ago he sent Botan out with Yusuke, their new spirit detective, to retrieve the items stolen from the vault: The Orb of Baas, The Sword of Darkness, and the Forlorn Hope. Now while Koenma had complete faith in the two to get the items back, it was who would be hearing that the Forlorn Hope was stolen and whose wrath he would be facing as a result.

An ominous chill shot down the prince's spine at the thought. If there was one thing he feared other than his father's wrath, it was the wrath of the 'Exile of Worlds' Nobunaga. He'd made a deal with the exile a few hundred years ago that if the Forlorn Hope was given to the spirit world to be stored away, they would leave him alone and after much reluctance on his part Nobunaga brought it to Koenma and made him swear that the Forlorn Hope would not be harmed in anyway. Though most beings in the spirit world wouldn't understand why Koenma would keep such a promise to someone like Nobunaga, Koenma himself as well as some few understood the meaning of the hybrid's words. Nobunaga had loved his mother and father dearly. He wanted to protect what precious memories were left of them. Whatever items remained, the exile kept them safe from the prying eyes of the Reikai.

As Koenma pondered the situation at hand one of his ogres came into the room unaware of a shadow-like form following him.

"Koenma sir, are you sure that Yusuke and Botan will be alright getting the items back? The demons in possession of them may be too much for those two to handle." The ogre, George, stated putting down some documents. (A/N: In the anime Koenma does in fact call his ogre assistant George from time to time.)

"Ogre I'm well aware that they may run into some trouble in getting the items back. Getting the Orb of Baas back shouldn't be too hard but the Forlorn Hope and Sword of Darkness will be an entirely different story. They're in the possession of Kurama and Hiei." Koenma replied shivering at the thought of the Forlorn Hope's actual owner.

"Doesn't the Forlorn Hope belong to Nobunaga sir?" Now George was in the beginnings of a panic attack. "Wait if he hears about this we're done for!"

"Ogre! You're not helping the situation here!" The prince yelled at him stressed.

_"He's right you aren't" _a young man's voice spoke quietly but the sinister undertone spoke volumes.

"GAH!" Koenma and George both yelled out as a shadow-like creature rose from the floor and in front of the desk. Both Koenma and the ogre shivered in fear as the black mass took a different shape. It dissipated and became the body of a young man about 16 or 17 in appearance with messy hair black like ink touching the snow white nape of the man's neck and long bangs reaching past his eyes framing a heart shaped face. The young man was dressed in a black pull over hoodie, grey cargo pants and black sneakers. What really scared the two were his eyes. His right eye the color of amber burned alight with a fiery intensity whereas his left eye looked demonic: The sclera was black instead of white and the blue iris glistened icily glaring daggers at the toddler.

"N-N-Nobunaga! How-When-Where-" Koenma kept stuttering as the exile walked around the desk to the terrified duo.

"Hello George." said surprising the ogre with a small smile. Truth be told Nobunaga didn't mind the ogre. When he wasn't sneaking around Reikai he was able to have pleasant conversations with him. Said ogre gulped "H-Hello Nobunaga." "Do you think you could step out for a moment? I promise I won't take too long. I just need to have a few... **words** with this one." Nobunaga smiled pleasantly all the while giving off a killer aura.

George nodded so quickly that Nobunaga and Koenma could have sworn they heard his neck crack and he ran out the door. "OGRE COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT! DON'T LEAVE ME WITH-" Koenma gulped feeling chills go down his spine. He turned back to face the sickly sweet smiling face of Nobunaga.

"N-now Nobunaga I now that you're angry but please r-remain c-calm. I-I've sent -o-out my s-spirit detective out to get the -i-items b-back." Koenma stuttered. Nobunaga just came closer and bent down so his face was almost touching Koenma's.

"Angry? You really think I'm angry? Don't be silly." The exile grabbed the front of the toddler's clothing and stood to his full height. His eyes burned with such a rage that Koenma had to close his eyes.

"I am f**king furious with you." He hissed. Koenma jolted. Nobunaga spitting out each word was worse than any yelling. "We had a deal. You were supposed to make sure that the Forlorn Hope would be kept safe from anyone's grubby paws. I guess you couldn't keep that bargain in the end." Nobunaga threw him back into his seat and sighed pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a few breaths to calm his nerves.

"I can't f**king believe this. You have guards surrounding the vault. There are traps that are supposed to scare even the strongest of apparitions. Your security has grown too soft." His face was a mask of controlled anger but his eyes and hands spoke otherwise. Fire crackled in his palms and his eyes flickered eerily with yellow and blue (A/N:the eyes glow a differrent color just saying).

"N-Nobunaga please calm yourself I know you're upset but believe me the mirror will go into a-" Koenma was interupted by the exile in a calm but deadly tone. "That's complete bullshit and you know it brat."

Koenma began to get steamed "I AM NOT A-"

"SHUT THE F**K UP!" Nobunaga cut him off again now yelling, his face transformed into that of a terrifying monster's. Koenma immediately closed his mouth. Nobunaga's face returned to its original human appearance.

"I will not hear your excuses do you understand? I am taking back the Forlorn Hope. Unless your security somehow improves in the next ten seconds, demons will always find a way within. The mirror was better off back in my realm. At least I would have disguised and sealed it so that even if demons somehow came close to my home they wouldn't be able to detect it. I am not taking any chances because it will happen again. My decision is final." Nobunaga finished looking at Koenma with fury.

Koenma could only remain silent for a while and then he spoke. "Very well Nobunaga. You've brought up a very good point. I will allow you to take the Forlorn Hope back but you know that you will probably not be safe from the Reikai any longer now that we have ended our bargain. However I have a proposition for you in regards to that. If you are willing I would like you to help the new spirit detective. That means you will still be left alone and free to wander the the worlds but with the condition that you assist him in missions that could prove to kill him if he has no one to back him up. He is just a young man finding and learning to control his powers. If you accept you will still be free. Do we have an agreement?" Koenma looked at the exile.

The flames in Nobunaga's hands dissipated and he began to calm down. He let the thought sink in for a moment. He despised most of humanity. Only a select few had ever earn his respect and he could the amount on his fingers.

"Who is the human and how did you pick him?" He answered and so Koenma began to tell him about Yusuke Urameshi, a punk and delinquent who had surprised the Rekai realm by saving the life of a little boy dying in the process, how he came back to life and those who the boy held close and had to protect.

As Koenma told the story Nobunaga's eyes held a level of understanding that most would not be able to comprehend. Living for as long as he did could do that to you. "Very well Koenma I'll agree. I want to see this human for myself though. I'll be going to the Ningenkai realm to get the mirror back. You better be right about this human." With one last pissed off look Nobunaga summoned a portal to the human world and began his search for the Forlorn Hope and the spirit detective known as Yusuke Urameshi.

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**Author's note: **Well that's it for chapter 2. Anyway I'll see you all in the next chapter. The episode where Yusuke meets Kurama is one of my favorites!

Ja'ne!-Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	3. The Detective and Nobunaga's wisdom

Here is the revised chapter 3. Again nothing major just some changes to dialogue and grammar. Once again I ask that you please leave a review and let your criticism be civil. No flames. Thank you.

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Disclaimer: I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own my OCs

Chapter 3: The Detective and Nobunaga's words of wisdom

Nobunaga began his search for the Forlorn Hope and for Yusuke Urameshi as soon as he entered the city that Koenma said he could find the human. As he searched in the more crowded areas of concrete jungle he stumbled upon a boy in a green school uniform around the age of 14 using a walking stick. He looked as if he'd just rumbled with a monster, face and body banged up. People passing by gave him worried looks making sure to steer clear. Next to him, making sure he didn't fall, was a woman with light blue hair in a ponytail and pink eyes wearing a human's outfit. Her energy was that of a spirit from the Reikai.

_Yusuke and Botan._ He thought and walked up to them.

Yusuke was in a nutshell, beat. He'd just gotten the Orb of Baas back from the demon Gouki and there wasn't a place where he wasn't sore. The two stopped in an alleyway where Botan was currently speaking to Koenma through her communicator. Yusuke leaned against a wall grateful that his screaming muscles could take a breather.

"I'm guessing you had a rough night human?" A boy's voice rang out.

The two quickly looked to the entrance alarmed and found a black haired boy dressed in a hoodie and cargo pants walking towards them with a passive expression on his face. His left eye was hidden by his long bangs.

"Who the hell are you?" Yusuke asked the strange boy as he backed up ready for a fight even though his body protested. There was an air about this man that caught the detective off guard. The boy didn't look like it but it felt as though he contained a vast amount of power. "My name is Nobunaga human. Relax I'm not here to fight you. Even if I did, with the shape your body is in you wouldn't stand a chance." Nobunaga rolled his eyes.

Botan looked at him warily. "Botan what's wrong?" Koenma's voice rang out from the communicator. Botan eeped and tried to hide it from the stranger but a blur went right in front of her and snatched it from her hands. Yusuke watched stunned. He hadn't even seen something like that from Gouki. He looked at the demon sensor on his wrist but was shocked to see that there was no reading of a demonic aura coming from the boy.

"What-how" Botan spluttered as the boy, Nobunaga spoke to Koenma. "What's up brat?" he asked to the now terrified toddler. "GAH! Why are you there!?" Koenma yelled freaked out by the sudden appearance of the exile.

"Wait Lord Koenma you know him?" Botan took the communicator back from Nobunaga.

"So you're not a demon?" Yusuke asked raising an eyebrow at the other teen.

"No I'm not you damn human. Have you located the whereabouts of the Forlorn Hope yet?" Nobunaga was annoyed as it was. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to introduce himself first.

"Yusuke he's not a demon. The boy before you is Nobunaga. I'm having him help you in missions that may very well be too dangerous to handle on your own. For this mission though he is taking back the Forlorn Hope because of the break in." Koenma replied still wary that the exile was still present.

Botan stepped back away from the two until she thought she was far away enough that Nobunaga wouldn't be able to hear her. "Koenma sir, you can't be serious. He can't **that **Nobunaga can he?" She whispered and let it hang looking at her boss through the communicator and turned back to the young man who now had his eyes closed as if concentrating. He looked like a normal human teenager.

"Yes Botan the Nobunaga with you two is indeed the 'Exile of Worlds'. We came to an agreement that he would get the Forlorn Hope back and still be free if he agreed to help Yusuke and though he is reluctant he's accepted the deal." Botan looked at the young man once more. Yusuke was trying to get him to talk. There was no way that this boy could be the actual 'Exile of Worlds'. No one had records of ever seeing the exile before and those who possibly had never lived to tell the tale. She heard from stories that he was supposed monster not of any world. An enemy to mankind and prey to demonkind. Yet here stood a teenage boy dressed in human clothes with a rather surly personality from the looks of it. But if Koenma said he was Nobunaga she would have to believe him.

"Why is he getting the Forlorn Hope back though? What if he uses it?" Botan whispered.

"I won't." A voice came from right behind her. Botan yelped and turned to find Nobunaga right behind her. "Stop doing that!" She screeched.

"I'm not going to use it for the kind of purposes you thinking of. And don't give me that look I know you were actually thinking it. The mirror was not created for those purposes. My mother made sure of that." He finished.

"Your mom?" Yusuke asked confused. Botan was quick to explain

"Yes. According to what I've heard Nobunaga is the son of a Shinigami and the Witch Queen Nataku. He's basically a being who shouldn't be able to exist because of his powers but here he is. The Forlorn Hope originally belonged to the Witch Queen". The exile gave her a nod signaling that she was correct.

"Yes but the mirror is not meant to be used by demons. It will grant wishes but it was used by my mother as a last resort if her power became too low to use." He explained.

Nobunaga was about to say something else when he felt a pull of familiar energy. His visible eye widened. "I have to go." Before Yusuke and Botan could say anything Nobunaga ran toward the source of the power he felt. It was the Forlorn Hope and it's energy called out to him. Before anyone could notice Nobunaga sped up to the rooftops of a few buildings and came across where the mirror was. From the looks of it, the mirror was in the hands of a teenaged boy. Nobunaga had seen few who had caught his attention but this one topped those on his list. Vibrant, long red hair and deep green eyes set in a slightly feminine yet still masculine face. He was wearing a rose colored uniform. Nobunaga shook himself and focused. He was definitely good looking but he also reeked of demonic aura.

Yusuke and Botan were seeing too it seemed. Even from the roof Nobunaga could see Yusuke's demon detector go off. However as the demon passed time seemed to stop as he passed the detective. As the demon left, Nobunaga quickly made his way down to the duo who were stuck in shock. "What did he say." Nobunaga said it as more of a statement than a question.

Yusuke didn't even look at him and replied: "He said he would give the mirror back to us but tomorrow. He sounded sad for some reason though." _A demon sad? That's a new one._ Nobunaga thought curiously.

"Wait but Yusuke tomorrow night is a full moon!" Botan exclaimed. "She's right. He'll be able to use it then. We have to get it back before nightfall." Nobunaga said trying to think of a way to get the demon, who he found was named Kurama, away from the mirror.

"Why do you want it so much anyway? Koenma said you were gonna help me in exchange for getting back." Yusuke asked. Nobunaga looked around. "Not over here. Plus it's getting late. Something tells me Kurama won't put up a fight but better to be safe than sorry. Go and rest and I will meet you up at his location alright?" He said. Yusuke nodded. "Alright but you'd better tell me Naga!" He said grinning. Nobunaga stopped and turned to give him an incredulous look.

"What... the hell did you just call me?" Nobunaga asked him not sure if he heard right. Yusuke merely gave him an amused grin.

"I called you Naga. Nobunaga's a mouthful to keep saying so I shortened it." The exile gave him a flat expression. His visible eye told the detective that he was not amused.

"The next I hear you call me that you will find yourself buried alive and six feet underground." He threatened as he disappeared. Yusuke and Botan looked at where the boy once stood. "He'll warm up." Yusuke said. Botan looked at him as if he grew a second head "What makes you so sure?"

"He didn't try to kill me so that's a start right?" Yusuke laughed. Botan just sighed and ushered him into his apartment.

* * *

*THE NEXT DAY*

Yusuke ran into Nobunaga the next morning. The exile sensed both Kurama's demon energy and the energy that came from the mirror. The trail lead them to a hospital surprisingly and in front stood Kurama. "Ah hello again. I suppose he is with you as well?" Kurama smiled pleasantly at both boys. Yusuke just looked at the hospital puzzled whereas Nobunaga just glared murderously at the redhead.

"Give me back the Forlorn Hope. Do you understand what you're getting yourself into demon?" He bit out. Kurama nodded. "I am well aware of the consequences of using the mirror. I will give it back but first there is someone I would like you to meet."

With that Kurama walked through the hospital doors. Nobunaga and Yusuke followed him confused and came to a halt at one of the rooms on a higher floor. Kurama opened the door and sitting in a hospital bed was a woman. She looked up and smiled tiredly. Yusuke and Nobunaga looked shell shocked.

"It's not often that you bring friends with you." She smiled a pleasantly and suddenly Nobunaga felt a jolt of pain in his chest as the woman smiled. He began to think of his mother for some reason. Then what Kurama said next make it all the more clear. "Mother you should be resting. Are you hungry? Shall I peel some fruit for you?" He asked worried and sitting down in a chair next to the bed. The two boys looked at each other stunned. _Mother?! _They both thought. "No thank you I'm not feeling hungry. I feel a bit better though." The woman said and Nobunaga noticed horrific scarring on her arms. _It looks like her arms were sliced up badly._

Kurama began peeling an apple. "You have to eat or you'll never get better." He said. The woman smiled tiredly again and what she said made sense to Nobunaga as he tried to comprehend the situation. "All right. You're so strict Shūichi." "Shūichi!?" Yusuke barely whispered. _So that's why he took the Forlorn Hope. _Nobunaga thought as he put two and two together.

After that ordeal Kurama, Yusuke, and Nobunaga were up on the roof. "So you stole the Forlorn Hope for her." Nobunaga stated.

"...Yes. Truth be told 'Shūichi' is my alias in the human world. That woman is my foster mother. My foster father died a number of years ago. She's taken care of me for fifteen years and yet I have hid the truth from her." Kurama looked toward the city. "My true form is a Yoko, and my profession is to disarm wards and disengage locks to steal ancient treasures and weapons." He finished "So you're basically a thief." Yusuke summed it up.

Kurama nodded. "Fifteen years ago I was pursued by a highly skilled hunter and seriously injured. I was able to escape into the human world in the form of a spirit body. I was weakened and helpless. I could not transform or possess a body and was forced to inhabit a woman's still forming fetus before it could atain a proper soul. If I could bear it for a good ten years my flesh would completely become that of a demon's and I would disappear from that woman's sight forever. "

"But something hindered that plan I take it?" Nobunaga stated rather than asked. Kurama looked at him. "Yes. Did you see the scars on her arms?" Both Yusuke and Nobunaga nodded. "It's because of those scars! Six years ago I came home looking for a container. Mother told where I could find it and I tried to get it myself only to drop a plate on the ground and the chair tipped over. She lunged after me not knowing that I would have survived he fall unscathed and caught my head before it could land on the broken fragments. The stench of blood was everywhere and her arms were sliced up badly. After the bandages were removed the scars remained." Kurama continued.

"I tried to leave home many times but... her smiles, her scars... They hounded me! I was unable to leave and as a demon myself it is unthinkable to believe that I could have developed such emotions but when she became ill... I realized that I had always seen her as my mother."

"And you took the mirror because it might cure whatever illness she has" Nobunaga summed it up. _That explains why he took the mirror. He loves her enough to resort to that measure. And yet does he realize how the impact of his decision may effect her?_ Nobunaga for once felt a pang true sympathy for the demon. He could relate. If he could, he would sacrifice his own life just to see his own mother and father again. Yusuke had the same look in his eyes. After all when he had died his mother became a complete mess. That was something he never wanted to put her through again.

"She won't last another month." Nobunaga and Yusuke were jolted from their thoughts. Kurama turned back to face the two young men. "I want to use the mirror to save her. That is my only wish. Once that is complete I'll return the mirror to you." Kurama finished his eyes landing on Nobunaga.

"Wait but that completely goes against what you want!" Yusuke exclaimed. "Isn't your mom gonna get lonely?"

"She has a loving boyfriend with her now. He is the president of a little business that she works for. Once she gets better she will be happier without me." Kurama smiled though there was sadness in his eyes.

Nobunaga clenched his fists angrily. "And how the f**k could you possibly know that?!" He yelled. "You're making a huge f**king mistake bastard!"

Kurama chuckled "You both seem to know about this. What is your name detective?"

Yusuke grinned "Yusuke Urameshi. Number 1 Punk at Sarayashiki Junior High!" He laughed. Nobunaga just rolled his eyes. "And you?" Kurama said to said exile.

"Nobunaga." he grumbled. Kurama's eyes widened a fraction before going back to normal. Not that Yusuke was able to see this but Nobunaga did and the corners of his lips twitched for a fraction of a second. While Yusuke had the aura of a human this Nobunaga character had one completely unknown to him. "May I ask what you are exactly Mr. Nobunaga? I don't sense demonic energy coming from you yet you don't appear to be a human either." Kurama pried.

"Like I'm gonna tell you s**t." And the surliness returns. Kurama chuckled at his answer. _Cute. _A deep voice rang in his mind. The fox's eyes glinted in surprise. Before he could say something though a man ran bursting through the door. "Ah! Shūichi quick! Your mother..." The man said in between pants. Kurama's eyes widened before running back down the stairs with Yusuke and Nobunaga right behind him.

"The illness suddenly got worse. Frankly speaking she's unstable right now. Tonight will be critical...I've tried my best." The doctor explained. That was enough to have Kurama go back to the roof just the moon was coming out.

"KURAMA WAIT!" Nobunaga was right behind him with Yusuke running up past the door. "You know what the price is for using the Forlorn Hope don't you?" he said in between pants.

"I have to do it now!" He exclaimed bringing the mirror out and kneeled over it.

"Wait what's the price?" Yusuke asked uneasily. Nobunaga turned to him grimly. "Your life. That is why it's called the Forlorn Hope. It will take your life in exchange for your wish."

"A life for a life..." Yusuke trailed off.

Kurama looked down at the mirror and recited an incantation. "Forlorn Hope please accept the moonlight and awaken! Reveal your strength that will fufill my wish reflected on your surface!"

The mirror began to glow brightly and a grim voice boomed: "The happiness of this woman... Is this what you desire?" It showed an image of Kurama's human mother and her boyfriend.

"Yes" Kurama did not hesitate.

"Hey wait! If she lives and you die then your wish will be meaningless!" Yusuke yelled to the fox demon.

He's right dumbass! Hang on I-" Nobunaga was cut off by Kurama. "It's the only way!" He yelled as the voice of the mirror rang out again.

"Is this truly your wish? Sacrificing your life for someone else's happiness?"

Kurama gave a small soft smile "I've deceived her for fifteen years. If I can pardon myself even slightly for this..."

The mirror spoke again. "Very well! I shall do as I have been told and grant your wish." As soon as the mirror said that electricity seemed to form around Kurama and began draining his life force. He grunted in pain.

"You can't do this!" Yusuke yelled and lunged at the mirror and Kurama. "Wait ya damn human I can ju-" but Nobunaga wasn't able to finish as Yusuke put his hand out as well and the electricity began to form around him as well draining his life force. "Are you insane!?" Kurama yelled to the detective but yusuke wasn't able to form a coherent sentence due to the pain coursing through him.

"FOR THE LOVE OF- YOU ARE BOTH A COUPLE OF F**KING DUMBASSES!" He screamed and ran towards the two holding his own hand over the mirror. Soon white and purple energy began to form and flow around him and his bangs flew up revealing his demonic like blue eye. Kurama was able to look up momentarily astonished at the boy's left eye and as his eyes began to glow blue and yellow but then the pain consumed him again and he shut his eyes in response.

In his mind Nobunaga yelled to the mirror. _Forlorn Hope heed my voice! I am Nobunaga son of your creator Nataku! I command you to yield to me!_

The mirror responded almost immediately_.** My lord what is it that you wish?**_

_I command you to only take half of their life forces so that the wish will still be granted without either of them losing their lives. You cannot hold so much life energy without the ability to harness it! You will transfer it to me so that I shall return it to them! _

**_AS YOU WISH MY LORD!_** and white light consumed all three of them.

Nobunaga was blown back a few feet. His body was coursing with both human and demonic life energy. Before his body could absorb it though he managed to manifest it into two orbs. One blue, the other red. Blue being Yusuke's and red being Kurama's. Shakily Nobunaga got onto to his feet and walked up to the still unconcious demon and human. He transfered the red energy back to Kurama and did the same with the blue orb and Yusuke. Kurama suddenly woke up with a jolt. He looked down at himself. "I'm still alive." He muttered and turned to look at Nobunaga who was still kneeling over Yusuke who groaned unconciously. Nobunaga, feeling a pair of eyes on him looked at Kurama. "Your wish is granted" he said.

"Mother!" Kurama got up and ran to the stairs.

There was a grunt and Yusuke woke up rubbing his temple. "Well I'm in pain. I guess that means I'm still alive rig-" Yusuke was cut off with a punch to the face courtesy of Nobunaga who had a look of pure rage and annoyance on his face. "OW WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" He yelled at said exile.

Nobunaga simply grabbed him by the shirt and yelled in his face. "I ASK BOTH OF YOU FOR ONE SECOND TO WAIT SO I CAN HELP AND YOU JUST RUSH INTO TO IT! I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT HE WOULDN'T HAVE TO DIE BECAUSE I COULD COMMAND THE MIRROR AND YET HERE YOU ARE RUSHING INTO IT AND HAVING YOUR LIFE ENERGY SUCKED OUT OF YOU TWO! THE ONLY REASON BOTH OF YOU ARE STILL ALIVE IS BECAUSE I HAD TO COMMAND THE MIRROR TO TAKE HALF OF YOUR LIFE FORCES SO I COULD GIVE THEM BACK TO YOU!" He finished dropping Yusuke on the ground and picking up the mirror.

The mirror began to speak. "Hey boy! Never have I seen let alone heard of such recklessness come from a human being before! If every wisher were like you I wouldn't have a reason to be called the Forlorn Hope anymore. And never have I seen a sprirt such as yourself come to their aid my lord!"

Nobunaga's shoulders slumped as he closed his eyes clutching the Forlorn Hope against his chest. "I finally have it back." He whispered as an image of his mother and father smiling at him flashed in his mind. His shoulders trembled slightly.

"So will you tell me what you meant by commanding it?" Yusuke asked the exile still sitting. Nobunaga pushed his thoughts back and sat down next to him speaking.

"As Botan and Koenma told you my mother was the Witch Queen Nataku. She was powerful as she was beautiful. The strongest of all witches at the time. She created the Forlorn Hope as a last resort if she was extremely low on spirit energy. She knew that she couldn't use it all the time and that it could fall into others' hands so she designed it to work only on a full moon. When her client would make a wish on the mirror his/her life force would be taken and transfered to the mirror. However the mirror cannot sustain the life force for too long because it is so great a burden on it. The energy would be transfered to my mother who would absorb it and in turn it would boost what little spirit energy she had left." He finished.

"So it's kinda like a charger for energy then?" Yusuke asked him. Nobunaga nodded although he chuckled a bit at the comparison. "Yes and your lucky that I was here to give you back your life forces. Had I not the mirror would have taken both your life forces completely. The other problem is even if both of you somehow survived you would have still died. As I said, the mirror cannot hold life energy for too long because that was not in its design. If the energy had stayed in for too long there is a high chance that the mirror would have combusted like a bomb and kill both of you off. Luckily I was able to command it to only take half of your life forces and have them transfered to me so that I could give them back." Nobunaga finished and Yusuke looked at him in awe. Suddenly he smacked the exile on the back and began to laugh.

Nobunaga who had nearly fallen in surprise at the contact rubbed his back and glared at the human. "What the actual f**k dumbass?!"

"I knew you weren't that bad Naga! You still let him grant his wish after all!" Yusuke laughed.

Nobunaga just got up. "Stop calling me that and of course. I may despise humans and demons to an extent but I'm not that cruel. What Kurama did was amiable. Stupid but amiable. What you were trying to do... You tried to show him that his mother would be miserable if she lost her child correct?" Yusuke nodded.

" Believe me when I say I would do the same he did just to see my own parents one more time." Nobunaga said barely audible but Yusuke still heard him. He walked up to the exile and pat him on the back. Nobunaga looked at him questioningly.

"You know... You're right. You're not a monster. Deep down you actually have a heart. It's hard to get to but it's there. You're not as bad as what Koenma and Botan make you seem to be." Yusuke said looking at the mismatched eyes of a stunned Nobunaga. The exile stepped away from Yusuke and turned to the floor. He bit his thumb until it bled and drew a sun and moon connected by two circles. The symbols glowed and became a portal opening to a dense forest. The forest of the Jigoku realm. Before Nobunaga stepped in though he turned to Yusuke who stared at the portal in amazement.

"Hey... Maybe I was wrong about humans. Maybe there still are some without too much corruption. Just don't make me regret having to deal with you all right Yusuke?" He gave a slight closed smile and with that he stepped through the portal with the mirror in tow and the portal closed behind him.

Yusuke stared at the spot where the portal and exile had stood all that was left was a smudge that would be impossible to make out. He smiled and left to report to Botan.

He knew the exile would warm up to him.

* * *

**Author's note:** So as I said before this was just some revised grammar and dialogue I had to fix up, nothing extreme. Please remember to review and that flames are not welcome. See you next chapter.

Ja'ne- kitsune to tenshi-chan


	4. Fighting Hiei

Again not many changes just some dialogue that needed to get fixed. Again please review and please do not leave flames. Critiques are welcome but flames are not tolerated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Just my OCs

* * *

Chapter 4: Fighting Hiei

After saving Kurama and Yusuke, Nobunaga opened a portal back to the Jigoku realm and headed toward his tower. The tower itself was made entire out of stone and loomed over most of the trees. The only curious thing was that the structure appeared to lack any doors of the sort at all. The exile went toward one area of the tower and placed his hand on the wall. He began to chant in a language long forgotten by time (A/N: You can imagine any forgotten language here if you wish to.) and almost immediately a seal appeared on the wall and dissipate revealing an entry way.

When entering the tower one would come to find that it was actually bigger on the inside. One room was his library while another served as a kitchen. Past the two rooms lay a hidden staircase that lead to where he kept his treasures. The staircase in the middle of the tower lead up to his lab and room at the top. Nobunaga walked down the stairs to his treasure trove and released the seal on the door. The seals that Nobunaga kept on the entryway and treasure room could only be opened by him.

At once he cast a spell lighting the various torches inside revealing the items that he had collected from both the human and demon world over time. There was a medieval suit of armor from Britain, a battle axe that had been given to him by the spirit of the Viking Erik the Red, surviving items that belonged to his mother and father which included maps of levels in the Reikai and his mother's favorite weapons. Countless other treasures could be seen in the large room but Nobunaga merely walked to a shelf and pulled out the box that contained his mother's more precious items. Gently he took the mirror and placed a seal on it disguising it as a bracelet once more and put it with the other treasures with extreme care.

Nobunaga sighed tiredly but went back outside. He needed to make sure that the demon plants he planted were doing well. Over time as he had traveled between realms, Nobunaga had made it a habit to find plants from the demon world and bring to the Jigoku realm. He planted mostly nocturnal species in hopes that they would survive and that they would provide protection if any demons managed to somehow find a way to his realm and claim his soul. The results exceeded his expectations as the plants thrived under the sunless sky, moonlight, and darkness. They mostly thrived off of eating the demons they killed though. Such plants included his death trees and a Tree of Sinners that he planted a few decades ago.

However he was looking for one plant in particular and came across a ciff where he nutured the seeds. There was a bushel of plants that appeared to be made of fiery red stalks and the leaves bled golden yellow in the middle of all the red. Nobunaga smirked as he collected some of the leaves. This plant was an extinct species found in the Makai known only as Phoenix Down. Centuries ago the plant used to thrive in the mountainous regions of the demon plane and was found to contain vast healing properties. It was used to create healing potions that could repair injury or cure illnesses of all sorts. Unfortunately over use of the plant lead to its extinction. Nobunaga had been lucky enough to find a remaining bushel of the plant and sowed it's seeds to bring back to his realm to use in case of any excruciating injuries he may have over time and the plant did it's purpose well.

This time though the plant would be made as a potion not for himself but for the fox demon if he ever ran into him by chance. He'd seen how devoted the fox was to his human mother and knew that she would not succumb to illness again because of the Forlorn Hope but just in case he would whip up a potion in his lab to use so that hopefully Kurama wouldn't think of breaking into the Jigoku and steal the mirror again. Why He was doing this Nobunaga didn't know but he guessed that maybe it was because Kurama's human mother had struck a cord in him. Nobunaga clutched at his chest as he thought of his own parents. Centuries passed but the wounds in his heart still bled in grief. He could only hope that somehow they were at least with one another in peace.

Nobunaga was pulled out of his musings by a glowing coming from a well like structure in his lab. This wasn't really a well but a device that the exile often used to look at the Ningenkai, Reikai, and Makai if he didn't feel like leaving his own realm. On the other side was Koenma with a look of nervousness on his face.

"What is it now brat?" The exile drawled as he peered at the image of the toddler prince's face annoyed that he was being called. Getting the Forlorn Hope back from Kurama after that whole fiasco had been stressful enough.

Koenma immediately went to speak not even batting an eye at the brat comment. Now Nobunaga was paying attention. If he didn't respond to that taunt then something serious must be going on.

"I won't even comment on that right now Nobunaga. Right now I need you to go back to the human world and help Yusuke and Botan. They've located the Sword of Darkness and it's possessor Hiei but they've come across a huge problem. It seems that Hiei has also kidnapped a human by the name of Keiko Yukimura and she is a friend of Yusuke's. Hiei has claimed that he will only give her back if the other artifacts of darkness are returned." Koenma finished.

"So you want me to bring it and help them out?" Nobunaga summed it up forming a plan in his mind.

Koenma was shocked at the exile's calm tone. He wasn't going to burst into flames or declare that he was going to sick one of his summonings on him? He couldn't help but feel that Nobunaga was planning something but time was of the essence. "Yes I'm going to need you to bring it with you. Hopefully the three of you will be able to take Hiei down with little issue. I'm counting on you and Botan to make sure that Yusuke doesn't endanger his life." He finished looking at Nobunaga from the other side of the device.

Nobunaga sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was tired and annoyed wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed. "Fine but after this I swear if you call me again right after a task you're going to find something very unpleasant hiding in your desk." Nobunaga disconnected the call getting to work.

As soon as the transmission ended Koenma sank into the chair in fear at what horrors Nobunaga could hide in his desk. "Just what in the world did I do to deserve this?!" He wailed startling George.

"Sir do you really think that Nobunaga is going to bring the Forlorn Hope with him?" George asked him.

"This is Nobunaga we're talking about. Of course he's not going to bring the mirror! Now I'm worried for Yusuke and Botan." Koenma rubbed his forehead stressed.

Meanwhile Nobunaga had traveled into the Ningenkai trying to sense Botan and Yusuke's energy. He was finally able to locate them at a warehouse where the two were standing anxiously. He guessed that Koenma told them that he would be bringing the mirror with him so that they could get the Keiko girl back in one piece.

"Oi!" Nobunaga called out to them and their heads went up in surprise.

"Naga! You're here! Yusuke yelled out. There was a look of excited relief on his face. Botan on the other hand looked worried. "Did you bring the mirror?" She asked looking at his many pockets.

Nobunaga ignored the hated nickname and pulled the Forlorn Hope from one of his pants pockets and handed it to Yusuke. "Yeah. So this Keiko girl is your woman?" He asked Yusuke. Nobunaga actually had to hold back a laugh and a smile while Botan did laugh as Yusuke almost tripped on air heading to the entrance of the warehouse.

"Who the hell told you that?! She's not my girlfriend! Just a friend...Who happens to be a girl." Yusuke replied incredously.

Nobunaga immediately put a serious face on though. "In all seriousness though you're gonna need to be careful. Kurama and Gouki may have been easy but I've got a distinct feeling that Hiei is gonna put out one hell of a fight. And it isn't just because he has the sword of darkness." _He possesses the sword of Darkness but I can remember exactly what it does for the life of me. F**k man I have a really bad feeling about this._

The warehouse was eerily quiet when they entered. Well it was until Yusuke started yelling. "GET OUT HERE HIEI! SHOW YOURSELF AND GIVE KEIKO BACK YOU ASSHOLE!"

There was still no answer. Then the trio got a response but not exactly the response they had in mind. Zombie-like figures came from the shadows of the building.

"WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT ARE THEY?!" Yusuke yelled getting into a fighting position. "S**t." Nobunaga cursed. "Botan you know what the Sword of Darkness does right?" Botan nodded.

"Yes. It possesses the ability to turn humans into demons." She answered grimly as she stood in between the detective and the exile on the defensive. "F***ing hell. That's what he's going to do to the girl. We have to work fast or we might be too late." Nobunaga was preparing to summon his weapons when Yusuke lashed out at the humans turned demons in response to Nobunaga's words. "DAMMIT GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY YOU ASSHOLES!"

Botan assessed the damage left by Yusuke, which by the way looked like a massacre without the gore, and was shocked. "They weren't turned into demons." she muttered. Nobunaga heard this and looked at some of the ones that landed on his side. "She's right. Looks like Hiei didn't use the sword on them. It looks like he controlled them with a different method." He muttered examining one of the humans' faces as his mind thought of possibilities as to how he could have done it. _A spell maybe? No...He would have exerted to much energy trying to keep them all controlled at once. So maybe another artifact?_

Yusuke was yelling again this time even angrier. "DAMMIT WHY DON'T YOU SHOW YOURSELF!? I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE MORE HUMANS WITH YOU! I'LL TAKE THEM ALL DOWN!"

Nobunaga finally came up with an answer as to how the demon could have controlled the humans. "Damn...The little s**t must have a Jagan..." He muttered to himself but Botan heard him. "Are you sure?" She asked him worriedly. Nobunaga nodded a deep frown set in his face. "There's no other explanation. It would have taken too much energy trying to keep them under control all at once using a hypnosis and I doubt he would have stolen another artifact from the Reikai vault. They would have noticed."

"You're right!" A voice declared and the trio looked up. Standing on a tower of crates was definitely Hiei from what Nobunaga could see. He was a demon, short in stature with crimson eyes, gravity defying black hair with a white starburst and dressed in all black. In the middle of his forehead was a Jagan eye.

The demon took a good look at Yusuke. "Now that I see you up close and personal..." He tsked. "You're more detestable than ever." The demon snapped his fingers and two more human slaves brought out an unconcious Keiko. "It doesn't matter if you're a spirit detective! He who tries to capture me is a fool!" He declared.

Nobunaga frowned even more. _This is way too easy... He's planning something. _Nobunaga was prepared for a fight.

"KEIKO!" Yusuke yelled at the sight of his childhood friend. He brought out the orb and the mirror in each hand showing the demon. "I have the treasures. Now hand Keiko over!"

Hiei smirked "Excellent...It would be a shame if you don't keep to the rules. Then it won't feel fun anymore." Yusuke threw the items to the floor and Keiko was placed on the ground. Botan and Yusuke ran to the unconcious girl while Nobunaga kept a close watch on Hiei. He had a feeling that Hiei had used the Sword of Darkness on the Keiko but she exhibited no signs of transformation yet.

Hiei smirked maliciously once again holding the orb in his hand. "Though it was different than I had originally planned, the items are finally mine. I had planned on killing Gouki and Kurama to get my hands on them." Nobunaga felt his fists tighten and his canines elongate into fangs. Gouki he could care less about but the thought of Kurama dying at the hands of this pest made him burn with an unknown rage. _Wait why the hell am I so angry right now?_ The exile shook his head trying to rid himself of that thought._ Forget it you're just pissed that you would've had to rip it out of this filth's grubby hands instead of the fox's. _And with that the exile focused on the situation at hand.

Yusuke began to laugh all of a sudden. "All yours?" The detective launched himself at the demon. "YOU'RE EVEN DUMBER THAN I THOUGHT IF YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU'RE GONNA GET AWAY WITH THIS! KEIKO'S SAFE AND I DON'T CARE IF I HAVE TO FIND THE THE ITEMS AGAIN! I'LL CRUSH YOU!" Yusuke tried to attack Hiei only for the demon to teleport. "W-wait what the hell?! He disappeared!"

Hiei hmphed. "I was merely taking a stroll. Did you really think that you would be able to surprise me at such a low speed?" He turned to Botan and Nobunaga who were hovering above Keiko. "You believe that I'm the stupid one? **You're** the fool if you believe that I left the girl unscathed! Gaze upon her forehead for something I think you will find interesting!"

Nobunaga looked at Keiko's forehead and found a cut but then the cut began to change shape. "S**T! YOU GOTTA BE F***ING KIDDING ME!" He yelled as Botan looked in horror at the wound as well. Yusuke ran to see what was going on only to see that the wound wasn't a wound at all. It was an eye trying to open!

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" He yelled as the eye began to open. Botan suddenly pushed both boys out of the way and shot her hand toward the eye. It became engulfed in white sparks and the eye began to fight to open fully. Nobunaga saw what she was doing. _Botan is using white magic to keep the eye from opening. The only problem is the type of white healing spell she's using is a beginners' spell._ "Yusuke it's really an eye! Hiei's made it so that Keiko will have one similar to his own." The woman cried as she fought to keep the eye closed.

Hiei laughed manically. "I'VE RETURNED THE BODY TO YOU BUT NOW HER LIFE IS TRULY IN MY HANDS!" He continued. "When the eye opens she will truly become a demon and I will make her one of my subordinates!"

Botan was struggling to keep the eye closed. She was startled to feel a hand next to hers delivering more powerful magic than what she was giving. She turned to find Nobunaga's hand emitting white flames on the eye keeping it from opening. Nobunaga turned to Botan his right eye flickering yellow. "When you start to feel drained stop emitting your energy. That's only a minor healing spell and you won't be able to last long keeping the eye from opening. Watch my back. I know more powerful healing and I'll be able to last much longer. Just make sure that you keep an eye out for those two coming near understand?" Botan nodded and focused on helping the exile keep the eye closed.

"Botan, Naga! Keep the eye closed for as long as you can! Naga keep an eye out!" Yusuke yelled preparing to fight Hiei. "ALREADY AHEAD OF YOU DUMBASS! AND FOR SANITY'S SAKE STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Said exile yelled back pissed but still focusing.

Hiei looked interested as the two worked to keep the eye closed. "HAHAHA! Interesting. It seems your comrades are well versed in white magic! However it's only a matter of time before their energy begins to take it's toll on them! Without certain magical herbs the healers' lives may be at stake!" He laughed seeing Botan begin to struggle greatly but was internally surprised to see Nobunaga remain calm and not exhibit signs of exhaustion.

Nobunaga turned to Yusuke. "I hate to say it but he's right. Botan won't be able to hold it for much longer and while I'll be able to hold out for a longer time it's best to get the Sword of Darkness from him as soon as possible." He finished keeping lookout on both the eye and Botan's energy.

Hiei laughed again taking the sword out. "Now let's play a game of 'tag' shall we? There is an antidote between the hilt and blade. The girl won't survive unless she takes it!" Hiei declared referring to Keiko. "At the speed that you're at though it won't happen for at least a hundred years!" He cackled. However Hiei didn't expect the surge of energy that emerged from Yusuke as he lunged and punched the demon square in the face. The force of the punch itself was enough to send Hiei flying into the other side of the building.

Yusuke looked at the demon darkly. "You're completely beyond redemption. I'll tear you to shreds if that's what it takes."

Botan looked on in shock while Nobunaga kept his eyes on Keiko's wound. "He's fueling his energy using his anger. It's getting stronger." She mumbled.

Hiei spat blood from his mouth and wiped it off glaring at the human detective once more. "Hmph. You're the type whose emotions feed your energy when the lives of your companions are at stake." Hiei declared proving Botan right about Yusuke's energy increasing. "Honestly that move did give me a scare! However there is no way you can stop the girl's demonization!"

Hiei began to teleport again surround Yusuke and taunting him. Suddenly he appeared behind Yusuke and tried to strike at him but was surprised to find a fist connect to his flesh once again. It seemed that Hiei had been in Yusuke's strike range. "Is jumping all you can do? You're nothing more than an insect without that eye of yours to help you."

Hiei took serious offense to that taunt and removed his cloak. It was Yusuke's turn to be surprised as Hiei's energy began to spike. "I can't believe that I'm being forced to 'revert'! By a pathetic human no less!" Hiei yelled in rage as his skin turned into a sickening green and eyes appeared all over his body.

Nobunaga looked at the transformed demon in disgust. "What the actual f**k? That's gotta be the nastiest s**t I've seen in a while. And that's saying something." Nobunaga said thinking back to all the times he had seens acts that had left him thoroughly repulsed. He was brought back out of his reverie by Botan's scream of pain. "She seems to be trying to match up her power to my own as it keeps rising! Sooner or later she will turn into a demon!" Hiei lunged at Yusuke catching him off guard. "But right now... You have no time to worry about anyone but yourself!"

Alarmed the exile immediately looked at Botan's hand and saw cuts begin to appear from the eye. Nobunaga began to feel a slight pressure himself but it wasn't anything serious for him. However Botan needed to stop emitting energy or Hiei's demonic energy would kill her. With his free hand he grabbed hers and pulled it away from the eye. Botan looked at him with shock written all over her face. "What are you-" the exile caught her off with a sharp gaze. "Don't even think about it. If you keep emitting your energy an longer against his rising one it's going to wind up killing you. Keep watch." and with that he went back to focusing on the eye.

Hiei's Jagan glowed and red energy binds appeared around Yusuke's body. Yusuke quickly realized that he wasn't able to move and Hiei kept beating him like a punching bag. _Dammit!_ Yusuke thought to himself as he kept receiving punch after punch. _I can't freakin' move! _Out of the corner of his eye he could see Nobunaga still trying his best to keep the eye from opening and Botan watching himself and Hiei fight in order to warn Nobunaga of impending danger. _Dammit what the hell do I do?_

Hiei smirked as he watched the detective unable to defend himself due to the bindings from his Jagan. "Do you see how greatly our powers differ now detective? I shall repay you for what I've suffered just now!" He then turned his attention to the remaining two. "I'll deal with you two after I'm done with the fool. However I am quite curious about you boy. You don't reek of human stench yet your scent isn't that of a demon's" He said his attention turning to Nobunaga. "Perhaps when I'm done killing your comrades I'll make you into my subordinate as well." He sneered. Hiei was only met with Nobunaga flipping the bird at him and replying with a "F*** you you little piece of s**t."

Hiei turned his attention back to Yusuke. "As a human you're still credible for your powers. I'll show you my respects by giving you a clean death!" However before he could take down Yusuke a blur came in between Yusuke and Hiei.

Botan covered her mouth. "Oh my-" Nobunaga cut her off. "K-KURAMA!? WHAT THE HELL!?" Nobunaga and Botan were right to question this as Kurama had truly come in between Yusuke and Hiei with the blade impaling itself through his stomach. Kurama took the blood seeping out though and threw it into Hiei's Jagan causing extreme pain to Hiei. As soon as the fox did that Yusuke's bindings vanished.

"Hey the curse is gone!" Yusuke exclaimed moving his limbs around.

Kurama decided to explain what happened despite the painfully obvious blood seeping from his mouth. "Hiei's true source of power is really his Jagan. The other eyes decorating his body are just that." He looked from Yusuke to Nobunaga his gaze lingering on the exile who began to fidget under the fox's green gaze. "I came because I wish to return the favor you both did the last time we met Yusuke and Nobunaga. As for the girl please leave her to me." He finished walking towards Botan, Nobunaga and Keiko.

"Wait but your injured!" Botan cried moving towards the fox demon eyeing the sword still pierced through his stomach. Nobunaga looked at the two and sighed. "Botan are feeling more energy come back?" He asked the blunette. When he got a nod he said: "Take over please I'm going to deal with the idiot." He said moving toward Kurama. Kurama saw the exile eye the sword and chuckled. "You do realize that because I'm a demon I won't kick the bucket any time soon right?" Nobunaga just looked at him unamused.

Kurama's eyes suddenly widened and he almost yelled at the pain coursing through his stomach. He gripped his injury looking up at Nobunaga only to find that the other boy had actually yanked the sword out. Said exile just said: "I know but that still doesn't deny the fact that you're still a dumbass. Consider it pay back for that little stunt you pulled with the Forlorn Hope. You wouldn't even be alive had I not been there." He said and with that the boy began to chant, his hand ablaze with white flames and placed it over the fox's injured stomach. Kurama winced at the burning sensation but then he was surprised as the burning slowly a pleasant warmth surrounding the wound. He looked at the boy's face and studied his features while he was focused with his task of healing the fox's injury.

His black bangs were long enough to almost go past his nose and hid his left eye quite well leaving a bit of the amber eye to be seen. His bangs also seemed to frame his face nicely which he noticed was actually heart shaped and quite unusual for a man. His skin was as pale and unblemished as freshly fallen snow save for a small scar on his right cheek. His hair, Kurama found, Reached a little past his chin and the back seemed to stop at the nape of his neck. Sitting down close Kurama could see that he was at least three inches taller than Nobunaga. Kurama measured at 5'8 so Nobunaga probably stood at 5'5 or 5'6. Quite petite for a boy. He was still wearing the same black hoodie, grey cargo pants, and black sneakers. The clothes hid his frame well making Kurama unable to guess his physique.

Kurama was brought out of his thoughts by the warmth disappearing. He was shocked to find himself almost disappointed that the warmth of Nobunaga's hand was gone. "There all closed up. Next time I'm not going to be so kind on your ass though fox." Nobunaga grunted grabbing the sword and stood up making sure that Botan was able to handle the pressure of the energy that the eye was emitting. Kurama stared at the boy's back and smiled. Nobunaga was still quite surly. _He's not helping himself by becoming cuter than last time..._ the deep voice resonated in his mind once again shocking Kurama. "Why is he emerging now?..." Kurama whispered to himself before going to help the two.

Meanwhile Yusuke wound up running from Hiei who was getting a kick out of it. It was similar a game of cat and mouse at the moment. He leapt at Yusuke ready to tear him to pieces with his claws. "I'm going to send you on your way human!" he screamed.

Yusuke smirked holding his hand out like a gun. "I'm sending **you **on **you're** way." He said smirking. "SPIRIT GUN!" Yusuke shot out a blast of spirit energy but at the last second Hiei was able to dodge the attack.

"F**k!" Nobunaga swore seeing what happened. Botan saw as well but went back to work separating the sword from the hilt. The exile quickly went to help her but was beaten by the fox demon who took his place and began pouring the antidote on the eye.

Hiei chuckled at Yusuke ready to attack once more. "Don't fret detective. I'LL SEND THE FOUR OF THEM ON THEIR WAY AFTER I'M FINISHED WITH YOU!" However before he could do anything Hiei was hit with a blast resembling Yusuke's spirit gun. Nobunaga turned to the source. "So it bounced back." Botan turned and saw what he meant. "The Forlorn Hope!"

After Hiei had finally fallen Yusuke ran over to the four and looked at his childhood friend. "How's Keiko doing?" He asked. Nobunaga smirked tiredly getting up and walking toward the items. The mirror's glass was shattered beyond repair. "We applied the antidote just in time. But you're so bad! How did you make it so that the Forlorn Hope would bounce back and hit Hiei from behind? Why didn't you tell me about that tactic?" Botan exclaimed looking at the fallen demon. Yusuke laughed. "That wasn't a tactic that was pure luck!"

Kurama chuckled. "I'm starting to see how you work now..." Nobunaga gave a scoff. "Yeah he's a huge moron." He said holding the mirror. Botan and Yusuke realized what he was holding and both began to freak out. "Ah w-wait Naga now hold on a minute I swear I didn't mean to break it!" Yusuke said unsure that he would be able to take a beating from the other ravenette. "Ok first of all am I really going to have to tell you to stop calling me that? Second of all it's all right. This isn't the actual Forlorn Hope." He said. Botan and Yusuke sighed with relief and it seemed that only Kurama heard that last part.

3...

2...

1...

"THAT ISN'T THE REAL FORLORN HOPE!?" Both cried in unison. "What the hell do you mean that it isn't the real one!?" Yusuke demanded trying to make sense of it. Botan couldn't wrap her head around it at all and Kurama seemed to be trying not to laugh at the way that they were reacting. Nobunaga just sighed and broke the seal on the 'Forlorn Hope'. In it's place was a rounded mirror with an unusually thick relective glass.

"Did you seriously think that I would actually give it up that easily?" Nobunaga smirked at their shocked faces. "The real one is still in my home. I had enchanted this one to look and feel like it was the actual mirror. Hiei would have been none the wiser and we would have been able to track him down. What I wasn't able to calculate though was him actually using the Sword of Darkness on your girl." Nobunaga finished looking at a shell shocked Yusuke and Botan.

Yusuke was the first to snap out of it and angrily chased Nobunaga who only smirked and let him chase him around for a few minutes. "YOU DAMN ASSHOLE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! THAT'S IT WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU YOU'RE HISTORY YOU HEAR ME DAMMIT!? SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND EITHER FOR THE LAST TIME!" Nobunaga just picked up speed and teleported to Kurama's side smirking at the human. "Well I'm out of here and going home for a much needed nap." and with that Nobunaga disappeared. leaving the angry detective, shell shocked blunette, and amused fox in the dust.

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**Author's note:** Well that's the end of this revision. Please remember to review and see you in the next chapter.

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	5. Maze Castle (and a surprise guest I put)

Chapter 5 everyone. Please remember to review and that flames are not welcome!

Before you go to the chapter please note that I did not include the Rando Arc. I will mention it but only because it pertains to the episodes with the four saint beasts. I just don't think that Nobunaga fits with the episode because it mostly assoiciates Yusuke and Kuwabara. I'm including Nobunaga in the team in the episode for the mission against the four saint beasts so there will be a fifth beast. I know you guys wanna see some action from him. The arc will be separated into several chapters

Any way there will be a surprise anime character in this chapter so I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own my OCs

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Chapter 5: Maze Castle (and a surprise guest)

Nobunaga's POV

After that whole fiasco with Hiei I was done assisting Yusuke in obtaining the Artifacts of Darkness back. Well minus the Forlorn Hope of course. I was tired but it was well worth hearing that Koenma got punished by Enma in the end. Firstly because the artifacts were stolen, secondly because they needed to be repaired from the damage caused by Gouki, Kurama and Hiei, and thirdly because Koenma had agreed to give me back the Forlorn Hope. George told me that Koenma got forty lashes. No he didn't get lashed with a whip. He actually got spanked. Now I would've paid to see that!

So far for the rest of the month I hadn't been assigned to do anything to help Yusuke. Apparently he was going to be a student under the psychic Genkai and handle the arrest of the demon Rando. Botan's helping him with this one so there's no need for me. Genkai's ok. Rough and a very dry sense of humor but she's pretty damn good at fighting and video games I gotta admit. She's on my list of humans that actually have my respect.

Right now I was playing some video games with a very good friend of mine in Ikebukuro. And she was kicking my ass hard. I know it's probably difficult to imagine that I actually do have those I like but I do in fact have one rather close friend. "Dammit Celty! I swear I'm gonna kick your ass!" I yelled at the headless woman sitting next to me as she sent my character flying out of the stadium.

Oh right you don't know. My friend is Celty Sturluson. When I said she's headless I mean she actually is headless. Celty is a dullahan from Ireland that I met a few centuries ago. A dullahan is kinda like a grim reaper like Botan. They're spirits that guide souls into the Reikai realm. Celty however has the ability to manipulate a shadow-like substance she can summon and bend it to her will. She can turn it into a scythe as well or into a chariot and gloves. She had to change her appearance coming into Japan to match the times kinda like myself. She wears regular clothing like myself but when she is outside she uses her energy to form a black biker outfit and wears a yellow and blue cat-eared helmet on over where her head should be. She also had to change the appearance of her horse Shooter. He's a motorcycle now. While I stay away from humans most of the time Celty on the other hand has hung around the humans in this city for a while. Her head is missing. Again. Hey if you see it let her know will you? Her head has pale skin, green eyes and auburn hair. Last time her head went missing I wound up in Tibet with her and a few very angry shurpas. Don't ask. Please.

Any way Celty's head was stolen this time and her search eventually led her to sneak on a ship to Japan. Celty usually has her head either at her hip or attached to her neck but this time someone actually managed to cut it off and take it along with some of her memories. It took a while to for me to help her remember that we are friends when I saw her again. Despite being a supernatural being she has a huge fear of death if I remember correctly. It's mostly because she feels that if she doesn't have her head she feels like she can't control her fate. Right now while she's looking for her head she's working as an underground courier for a human named Shingen and his son Shinra Kishitani who is an underground doctor and who she lives with. Apparently she and Shinra are together as well. Don't know how the hell that happened but somehow the two of them make it work. And yes before you ask Shinra knows I am a supernatural being like Celty. I can actually tolerate him. Unlike a certain detective.

I was bored and decided to visit. Somehow Celty had talked me into playing Super Smash Brothers with her and she was currently kicking mine and Shinra's asses. "Ah geez..." Shinra rubbed the back of his neck as he watched me fume over my loss again. "I think I'll go make some coffee. Nobunaga do you want any?" He asked me. "No, but thanks." Just as Shinra left the annoying communicator that Koenma had given me went off. Celty turned to see what the noise was and I took out the communicator. Originally it looked like a compact mirror, much to my mortification, so I remade it to look like a dark blue phone. I don't know how but I got it to make text messages too.

I flipped it open and Koenma's image appeared on the screen. "Now what..." I muttered put out that I'd have to finish my brawl with Celty another time. "Nobunaga I'm afraid I need you for another- WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" He suddenly yelled. I raised a brow but then got mad when I figured out he was talking about Celty in that tone. "If you want to keep your f**king self in one piece you little s**t you will not ask that again." I bit out seething at him. As I said before she's one of the very few I trust not to kill me on the spot so I'm rather protective of her. Celty put a hand on my shoulder to calm me but I wasn't paying attention. "For your information she's a dullahan." I said a little calmer now but still angry.

Koenma stuttered again. "W-well I a-a-pologize miss. B-but anyway Nobunaga, I-I'm going to need you to assist Yusuke again. It a-appears that a massive outbreak of demon insects has made its way into the c-city. We've found that the insects are coming from the Maze Castle in the Makai realm. The Five Saint Beasts have declared that they won't command the insects to return unless they're allowed entry into the Ningenkai but even if we agree they would annihilate the humans. I've already sent Yusuke. His friend Kuwabara is tagging along with him. Your goal is to destroy the demon flute that the leader of the Five Saint Beasts Suzaku is using to control the insects." and with that Koenma signed out.

I turned to Celty and sighed. "Sorry about that." I said. Celty took out her PDA typing something then showing it to me. 'For the prince of the Spirit World he really doesn't know much about other spirits does he?' I laughed. "I guess not. Anyway I hate to do this but I'm really going to have to go and help out with this. Next time I come over though we're finishing this you hear me?" Celty typed again. 'We'll see my friend.'

I waved goodbye and left speeding back to the city to look for Yusuke and this friend of his.

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3rd person POV

Nobunaga traveled back to the main city looking for Botan. According to Koenma the grim reaper was taking care of the insects. Nobunaga looked around in disgust. There were demon insects everywhere. "Ugh...F***ed up mosquitoes is more like it." He shivered and began to chant a spell under his breath. A trail of his energy began to manifest itself and took the form of thousands of tiny but razor sharp needle like fragments. Nobunaga shot the needles out and in an instant they began to pierce the bodies of the demonic insects disinigrating them. Nobunaga then felt a pull of Botan's energy and made his way over to an alleyway where he found said grim reaper being attacked by humans controlled by the insects. Botan was fending them off with a bat and Nobunaga quickly went over to finish them off.

Botan was fending off the controlled humans with her bat when one came up behind her. In a panic she closed her eyes and braced herself for pain but was surprised when none came. She opened her eyes to find Nobunaga stopping the human's hand and throwing him to the side knocking him out.

"Nobunaga! But how-" She cut herself off. "Wait let me guess...Koenma sent you to help Yusuke and the others defeat the Five Saint Beasts." She stated and Nobunaga nodded.

"Can you open a portal to where they were sent to? I'd do it myself but I haven't been to that part of the Makai in a hundred years. My memory of that area is a little fuzzy." He muttered.

"Of course. I sent Yusuke and his friend there not to long ago." Botan quickly mumbled a few words under her breath and a portal opened to the area where Maze Castle was located.

"Thanks." Nobunaga said to the girl and walked through into the demon plane with the portal closing behind him. Quickly he felt around for any signs of human energy. He found two but then there was the unmistakable pull of demon energy. And from what he could tell there was a whorde of them. "S**t. Time to go save their asses." He muttered and sped toward them. Nobunaga arrived just in time to see Yusuke and another human in a blue school suit and orange hair both being surrounded by lesser hooded demons. "HAHAHAHA! I SMELL HUMANS! THERE ARE HUMANS HERE!" One of the demons cried out. "FINALLY A DECENT MEAL!"

"Dammit we're surrounded!" Yusuke yelled as he and the orange haired human punched the demons away but they kept coming at them. Nobunaga was about to jump into the fray when he felt two familiar energies. "You've got to be s***ting me." He muttered and went down there.

* * *

Meanwhile as Yusuke and Kuwabara seemed outnumbered two creatures flew into the crowd and killed the remaining demons. "It must be tough having only two in a team." A deep voice that once dripped with bitter malice stated now only annoyed.

"Therefore allow us to help you." The two removed their cloaks revealing Kurama and Hiei.

"How the hell?" Yusuke yelled out confused.

"Wait who are they? You know them Urameshi?" Kuwabara looked from the two strangers to his fellow human.

"Yea. Kuwabara these guys are Kurama and Hiei. Two thieves that I captured."

"It's a pleasure." Kurama replied.

So how the hell are you two here anyway?" Yusuke looked at the two thieves questioningly.

Before Kurama could answer a voice familiar to the detective and thieves rang out. "Koenma's certainly being generous isn't he?" It came out as more of a statement than a question. The four looked around bewildered until Yusuke spotted a figure in the tree above them and grinned. "Naga!" he yelled and laughed as the exile gave him a dirty look along flipping the bird in his direction. He was wearing different clothes this time. A sleeveless black and dark grey horizontal striped hoodie that was unzipped to reveal a white t-shirt underneath. He still wore his grey cargo pants but instead of sneakers he wore a pair of combat boots with the pant legs tucked in. He also wore a pair of fingerless gloves that stopped halfway above his elbows with a ring around the middle fingers. (A/N: If you don't know what I'm talking about with the gloves look up Sanzo from Saiyuki. He wears the gloves.)

Nobunaga came down from the tree and glared at the other raven. "I've told you to never call me that." He turned to Kuwabara and hissed out "If I ever even hear you refer to me by that name I'm going to make sure you go back to the human realm piece by piece."

Kuwabara paled and began to sweat bullets. "U-Urameshi who the hell is this guy?!" he stammered pointing at Nobunaga. "Kuwabara this guy is Nobunaga. He helped me catch these two." Nobunaga just looked at the demons. "Let me guess... Koenma said if you do this you might get off the hook." he smirked knowingly. Kurama smiled amused. "Yes. This is our task before we return to civilization. If we help you it is possible for us to be pardoned."

Hiei only scoffed. "I don't know what's going on in Kurama's mind but know this: I am only interested in the tools and treasures that the Five Saint Beasts have stolen. I'm not interested in helping you at all."

"The feeling's mutual..." Nobunaga bit out giving Hiei a cold stare and Hiei returning it.

Kuwabara was put off by Hiei's response. "What's up with the shrimp? Pretty damn cocky for a shorty!" Hiei didn't miss a beat and retorted "Why? Care to die now?"

"If you're gonna fight do it some other time you numbskulls." Nobunaga turned to Yusuke. "As much as I'd like to make due with my threats, Koenma sent me to assist you as well. You think you have room for a fifth?"

Yusuke smiled and smacked him in the back. "Hell yeah! The more the better right?" Nobunaga rolled his eyes before punching him squarely in the jaw. Yusuke fell back a few a feet. "OW! What did I do that time?!" He yelled as the exile began to walk toward the castle in the distance. Nobunaga simply replied "Don't touch me again. Second of all, this situation isn't something to make light of." Kurama repressed a laugh at the annoyed face Nobunaga made and the five soon were on their way to the foreboding castle in the distance.

* * *

It wasn't long before they made it to the entrance. Nobunaga felt a chill creep up his spine as he looked. There was no door or anything blocking their way and it was unnerving.

"This is the entrance?" Yusuke looked around. "I would've thought that there would be something in front of us at least."

Kuwabara shrugged. "Just looks like a really long tunnel."

"That's why this isn't sitting right with me." Nobunaga muttered barely audible but Hiei and Kurama were able to hear him. Kurama looked at the exile's skeptical look. He had to agree with him. There was something odd about the entrance. It was too unguarded. As a thief he knew that most castles were guarded by a good number of demons or traps but this one wasn't. _He is right about the entrance to Maze Castle. Something isn't right about this. It seems too easy to get inside._

Hiei only scoffed at Nobunaga's words. "Are you that afraid? I still have no idea as to what you exactly are but know this: I don't tolerate weaklings so if healing is the only thing you know you may as well leave now."

Kurama was about to say something when Nobunaga cut him off. "Believe me demon." He bit out and each word dripped with vemonous malice. "You have no idea what I'm capable of. If I had it my way last time we crossed paths, I would have made sure you would have been torn into a bloody mess beyond recognition." He kept walking toward the entrance leaving the two demons behind.

Kurama spoke to Hiei. "He is right about both things you know. There is something off about the doorway and he is hiding something about him."

"Then do you know what he is?" Hiei pressed.

"I have an idea but I am not entirely sure that my theory is correct." In truth after the Forlorn hope incident, Kurama began an investigation of his own on Nobunaga. He was neither human or demon so the fox could narrow him down to being a spirit of some kind. Then there were his eyes. The right one was normal, but the left hidden by his bangs was a completely different story. He knew that when an apparition of any kind fused with another being, a mutation could occur. He himself was an example of this as his spirit fusing with the fetus in his mother's stomach led to his human persona to be born with a mutation of red hair and green eyes. Then there was his theory. However he did not have enough evidence to prove it correct or otherwise.

Yusuke went on ahead. "No pain no gain! We gotta go in!" The others went after him. Nobunaga checked his surroundings every so often for traps or demons hiding in the shadows but nothing of the sort could be sensed.

He was about to keep walking but then Kurama stopped abruptly causing Nobunaga to bump into him. "Wait a moment."

"What is it?" Nobunaga saw something flicker in his peripheral version. It turned out to be a demon eye with wings flying in front of the group. "Welcome to Maze Castle." It greeted them. "Those who wish to enter must first be tried by the Door of Betrayal."

"TRIAL?!" Yusuke and Kuwabara yelled together.

"Keep an eye out." Kurama said to the rest of them as he kept watch for any traps. The demon eye fluttered to a switch in the wall and pulled it down. At first nothing happened but then a rushing sound could be heard. "Wait what the hell is that?" Nobunaga looked around and got his answer when Yusuke yelled looking at the ceiling. "What the... S**T! The ceiling's coming down!" Before any of them could escape the ceiling came down on them too fast and they were forced to hold it up in order to keep from getting crushed.

The demon eye cackled enjoying the looks of strain on each of their faces. "The door is extremely sensitive and has a rather awful personality, but it is very clever on the other hand. It senses the strength of the people who are supporting it's weight, thus releasing the greatest pressure. If one person so much as slacks even the smallest bit the ceiling will come crashing down on all of you!"

"DAMMIT NO WONDER I COULDN'T SENSE ANY TRAPS!" Nobunaga yelled struggling to hold the weight pressing against his hands and straining his body.

"S**T!" Yusuke cursed.

The eye cackled with glee. "If one person betrays the rest then they will be crushed by the weight! If you remain loyal and try to keep the weight up fatigue will arrive and you will still die under the weight! The choice is yours to decide."

Kuwabara gritted his teeth in agony. "Don't you dare look down on us mangy eyeball!"

Nobunaga tried to think with all the weight pressing on him. _DAMMIT! We need someone to lift the switch fast enough so the rest of us don't freakin' die! I may be fast but I doubt I'll be able to reach the switch with this weight pressing down on my shoulders!_

Yusuke came up with an answer though Nobunaga wanted to disagree with it immensely.

"Hiei!" Yusuke got said demon's attention. "You're the fastest one here! Go push the lever back so this thing will lift off of us!"

Nobunaga put his two cents in "As much as I hate to say it he's right! You're the only one that will be able to reach the switch in time!" Nobunaga yelled. Even though he disliked the demon with a passion he knew Yusuke was right. Out of the five of them only Hiei would be able to reach the switch in time. Yusuke and Kuwabara were only human and he doubted Kurama would be able to go fast enough with his current body. Nobunaga would have done it but when the ceiling landed on them he'd been ready to speed out of there. The ceiling had come down much too fast and he was now holding his portion of the weight by his hands and shoulders crouching slighty. Trying to get to the lever from that position would have slowed him down.

Kuwabara though yelled in disagreement. "Are you two out of your minds?! Urameshi you should go!"

"The disfigured fool is right" Hiei spoke up.

"Wait...WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING DISFIGURED COCKY SHRIMP!" Kuwabara screamed at Hiei in rage.

"Do you honestly believe you can trust me?" Hiei questioned the two. Nobunaga scoffed "Believe me you're the last person I'd place my life with but with the position I'm in right now I doubt I would make it in time." Yusuke on the other hand smirked at Hiei.

"We'll be able to sustain your portion of the weight of the door for a while." he said

Nobunaga nodded "Now get going!"

In the blink of an eye Hiei was able to reach the switch and more weight was pressed against the remaining four. Yusuke began to pur out his energy and even Nobunaga tapped into a little bit of his own energy but enough without anyone realizing the types he possessed. When Hiei reached for the lever he stopped and looked toward the rest.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? PULL THE SWITCH!" Kuwabara yelled at the demon.

Hiei hesitated battling decisions to pull the lever or to leave the four for dead. The eye smiled evily at the demon's hesitance. " You should not be so hesitant Hiei. Leave them! Lord Suzaku will welcome you with open arms! He may even make you general of our army. The Five Saint Beasts would welcome a thief such as yourself heartily..."

Kuwabara was growing sick of this. "OI! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GONNA TURN YOUR BACK ON US?! AFTER ALL THE TRUST URAMESHI PUT IN YOU?!" Nobunaga tsked and was prepared to: 1) Release his energy and 2) Kill the short bastard.

Hiei laughed. "Such naive fools." He turned back to the group. Nobunaga was getting ready to release a storm. Hiei then yelled. "AND DON'T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME!" They thought he was referring to them until he grabbed his blade and slice the middle of the demon eye making it blind. Hiei raised the lever stopping the ceiling.

"The ceiling stopped!" Yusuke exclaimed and they released their hands in relief. Hiei turned to the now blind demon. "Tell your masters if they are willing to submit to ME then maybe I'll spare their pitiful existance. I suggest you go tell them now before I end your own life as well." The demon eye fluttered out of the room screaming in agony with blood still dripping from it's wound.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Nobunaga all crawled out from under ceiling. Yusuke let out a sigh of relief. "I thought my veins were gonna burst!"

"It is fortunate we were able to make it out alive." Kurama agreed lifting himself up.

Nobunaga stretched until he felt his back pop. "After this I'm not setting foot over here for another hundred years."

Kurama looked at the young man. "Are you alright Nobunaga?" The two humans in the group also looked at him strangely after that remark. "Wait I've been meaning to ask you: How old are you anyway Naga?" Yusuke asked the exile. Nobunaga the mindset of someone who had seen and done much. He'd probably compare to that of Genkai's mindset. Clearly the male didn't have the mind of a young man.

Nobunaga glared at the other raven. "Knock it off with the nickname. Second of all" He turned to Kurama "I'm fine."

Yusuke turned to Hiei. "But geez Hiei! You really scared us! You haven't really changed since last time!" Yusuke said cheerfully.

Hiei turned away and scoffed. "I didn't do it for you pesky detective. It's easier to take them down when there are more people. Don't get the wrong idea."

Kuwabara tsked and muttered "Bastard." under his breath.

"I whole heartedly agree." Nobunaga said more to himself as Hiei walked toward the castle itself. He himself was next to Yusuke. "Are you sure you want to put your trust into him?" Nobunaga looked at Yusuke questioningly. Said boy turned and grinned at him. "I put trust in you didn't I?" He said referring to when the two first met. Nobunaga raised an eyebrow and then let out a whispery chuckle shaking his head. "You've got to be one of the strangest humans I've ever crossed paths with." Nobunaga then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Kurama standing behind them watching Hiei.

Kurama turned to Yusuke. "Hiei is always like that I'm afraid. Please pay it no mind." He smiled. Nobunaga scoffed and shrugged off Kurama's hand walking toward the castle as well. "I could care less honestly. Oh yeah, Yusuke.." the detective looked at him questioningly.

"As for your question: 715."

"Wait what?" Now both humans were confused. Kurama didn't know what the exile was referring to either and simply raised an eyebrow.

Nobunaga smirked at the clueless beings. "You asked me how old I am. I'm 715 years old." _Wait for it... 3...2...1..._

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!" Could be heard as Nobunaga snickered headed toward the castle with Hiei leaving two humans trying to make sense that a soul that old could look that young and a fox who had a look of slight surprise.

This mission was going to get even more interesting. Especially if Nobunaga turned out to be who Kurama thought he was.

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**Author's note:** Ok so that's it for Chapter 5. So once again I will leave the clarifications.

1) Nobunaga's age: We know that from the first chapter that Nobunaga has been alive for centuries. I just never said how many. Nobunaga was born during the feudal era so his exact birth year would be 1299. Also something that I want to explain regarding his appearance. A witch would have a means of aging at a slower rate regardless of being human-born or demon-born. Human-born would age slower that normal humans and demon-born would age a bit slower than normal as well. Soul-born witches on the other hand have a slower physical aging process than either of the two given that they are the offspring of spirits with high affinity to magic. Shinigami are also completely spiritual as they would hardly age. Given that Nobunaga is the son of a witch and a shinigami his aging process is slightly slower which is why he looks more like a teenager instead of seeming slightly older.

2) Celty Sturluson is in this chapter: Well when I was writing this chapter I wanted to put Nobunaga doing something other than exploring the demon and human world or staying in his own realm. I couldn't exactly picture him helping Yusuke and Botan in the Rando Arc to be honest. I tried and he was just there. So I decided why not have him with a different character for the time being? I didn't want to make another OC because I thought that would make it mary-sueish so I thought how about him having a character around his age. That's when I decided to put Celty in the story. Mainly for filler but I also wanted to show the readers not just Nobunaga's contempt for humans but also that there are those that he can tolerate to an extent. Celty's relationship with Shinra seemed the best way to go. I'm sorry if it seemed strange putting Celty in it but to me it made sense. I also wanted to make it seem like Celty has lost her head before for some funny business. The incident in Tibet that Nobunaga is talking about in the beginning you can leave it up to your imagination.

This is the end of the slightly re-written chapter. Please proceed to the next one and remember to review but no flames. Criticism is welcome.

Ja'ne-Kitsune to tenshi-chan


	6. Kurama vs Genbu

Welcome to chapter 6 everyone. Those of you who read the original chapter please remember that the order of the fights is Kurama, Kuwabara, Hiei, Nobunaga, and then Yusuke's fight with Suzaku. Again I mostly corrected grammar and rewrote parts here in there but nothing drastic. If anyone gets confused feel free to PM me so that I can explain. Please remember to review. Critiques are welcome but flames are not.

P.S.- Some of the items and spells that I use in the story will be from different fantasy games: Mainly the Bravely Default series which I recommend playing. Both the first and second game are very good. Now that that's settled back to the story

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I only own my OCs and any parts that I add in from my own mind.

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Chapter 6: Kurama vs. Genbu

The team found themselves walking through a corridor. Kurama looked around in wonder. "Truly a Maze City." Kuwabara on the other hand was less interested. "Let's just find the stairs going up. This place is giving me the creeps."

Hiei tsked at the orange haired human. "What's the matter? Like I said before I don't care for weaklings."

Kuwabara began to get angry again. "WHY YOU LITTLE-" He was cut off by grey energy surrounding his face and his voice stopped emanating. Kuwabara panicked and tried to yell but to no avail. The others were bewildered until they turned to Nobunaga who the same grey emanating from his right hand as he rubbed his forehead with his left and glared at Kuwabara annoyed.

"Knock it off will you? You're inncessant yelling is giving me a f***ing migraine and the fact that your voice is echoing off the walls isn't helping. I'll release you from the spell if you swear to keep it down." Kuwabara nodded afraid to annoy the exile any further and Nobunaga reached into one of his pockets taking out a feathery dark green leaf. "Chew on that." He said giving it to the silenced human.

Kuwabara chewed on the leaf but almost instantly spat it out. "UGH! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU GIVE ME?!" He yelled but then stopped short when he heard his own voice. "Hey my voice is back!" He exclaimed with relief.

"You're a spell caster." Hiei summed up looking at Nobunaga who was still rubbing his head trying to rid himself of his headache. Said person just nodded and sighed relieved when the pounding in his head stopped.

"What did you give him?" Kurama inquired to the exile. "It's a plant known as an echo herb. It does what the name implies and contains a substance that nullifies the effects of silencing spells." Nobunaga said and the group continued forward.

Yusuke's communicator suddenly went off. Botan was on the other line. "Yusuke this is Botan creating a bit of chaos here at the moment." She then shrieked and they all heard a splat signaling that she must have killed a makai insect. "So far I've killed about fifteen of the thousands of insects swarming the city."

"ONLY FIFTEEN?!" Yusuke yelled at the grim reaper. "THAT'S BARELY EVEN SCRATCHING THE SURFACE!"

"All the more reason why the whistle needs to be destroyed as soon as possible." Nobunaga said.

"So far it seems that the insects only go for those with truly dark hearts. They're practically scouring everywhere for some. GAH!" Another splat. Make it sixteen insects. "Another down! You guys need to get to it. For all we know this may very well be the calm before the storm. Botan out!"

It was silent until Yusuke spoke. "Well the city's safe for now at least. Hey Kurama, Nobunaga what do you two know about the Five Saint Beasts? Botan and Koenma didn't really tell me much." He figured the two might know the most seeing as Kurama was the more knowledgeable one of the demons and Nobunaga had traveled around the demon world many times.

Kurama proceeded to explain with Nobunaga putting his own input here and there. "This area of the Makai has been forgotten as time has passed and eventually the Reikai realm forgot about it completely."

"He's right. As far as I know, this place hasn't been trespassed by the Reikai for a few centuries since they sealed the beasts up. From what I remember hearing about them, their looks speak for themselves. If that turns out to be the case then I hope you and the other one over there don't piss yourselves. This isn't the kind of place to go cold turkey. " Nobunaga said giving both humans a look that said 'Don't even think about running.'

"Since the beasts have been separated from humans for that long they may give you a fright." The fox demon finished nodding at the exile's explanation. Crude language and all.

It was after the two had finished speaking that malicious laughter roared from behind a door. "Thank you for the introduction!" A voice boomed.

Yusuke kicked the door open without thinking and Kuwabara followed. "IN HERE! COME ON!"

In the middle of a room constructed entirely from stone stood an ogre-like creature made of solid rock. His back resembled a spiked turtle shell and he had a scorpion like tail. The demon eyed each of them. "Allow me, Lord Genbu, to pamper you from now on." The demon laughed and grinned psychotically lifting his tail. "There is only one staircase that leads upwards from here. Now you either defeat me or become a sea of corpses!"

Kuwabara took a step back in fear. "H-He's huge!"

The demon then lifted his tail higher and Nobunaga was the first to react. "HOLY S**T! GET THE HELL BACK!" He yelled and they jumped back in time to see Genbu's tail smash the ground they had just been standing on.

"Or...You can attack together and save me the trouble of picking you all off one by one." he cackled.

Kuwabara began to sweat bullets. "T-there's no way we can take a monster out like that! There's just no way!"

Nobunaga was prepared to summon his weapon. "Care to bet on that?" He said glaring at the scared human.

Kurama spoke then. "Allow me." And he walked toward the stone demon.

"You sure Kurama?" Kuwabara asked warily.

"It's dangerous to fight an opponent without information if we attack together. Besides, I can't let Hiei take all the credit on this mission." Kurama stated this without straying his eyes away from Genbu and Hiei just looked away at the comment and glared at Nobunaga when he began to snicker.

"Hey wait a minute! Are you sure? We might just be better off trying to find a way to get upstairs!" Yusuke yelled to the fox.

Hiei scoffed at the human's remark. "You truly don't know anything about Kurama's true abilities. That's why you're making those remarks. Let me tell you why I allied with him. I did it because I didn't want him as an enemy. He's more cut throat than I am in battle and incredibly precise."

"In other words he could kill you before you even have the chance to move." Nobunaga explained. He himself had heard recounts of the infamous thief from Nataku as a child. Traveling between worlds his mother had her fair share of run-ins with the full-fledged fox demon. Even now he was still impressed at the demon's exploits and tactics from long ago. Now they would get to see what he was capable of in battle.

Kurama glared at the demon prepared for battle. "Come at me!" He taunted. "Attack as you please." Genbu only remained standing.

_Either Genbu is calculating how to attack or he's plotting something. That...or his head really is just full of rocks._ Nobunaga muttered in his mind trying to figure out why Genbu wasn't moving.

The lack of movement from the stone demon's side was annoying Kurama greatly. "'If you do not attack I will make the first move myself!" However Yusuke was the first to notice what was amiss and quickly the rest were able to see what it was that Genbu was exactly doing. His tail was sinking into the ground and appeared right behind Kurama.

"Kurama!" Yusuke yelled. "Watch out for his tail!"

Kurama glanced quickly behind him and put his full attention on the demon's tail. Before he could dodge though, it came straight at him and sliced him across the chest leaving a particularly nasty gash.

Genbu cackled as Kurama kneeled putting pressure on the bleeding wound. "Do you see now? My body is able to meld with any type of stone. The ability to move only my tail behind my enemy is a piece of cake!" The tail sunk into the ground again.

"KURAMA!" Yusuke yelled seeing the damage done to the fox.

Nobunaga cursed under his breath at the carelessness he had seen. Another attack like that could send Kurama on his way. Demon or not.

"I can move freely within the rocks in this room!" Genbu stated rather proudly "YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR LIVES FOR ENTERING!"

"DAMMIT THAT'S IT!" Yusuke yelled and turned to Kurama. "Kurama get over here and I'll switch with you." He said not wanting the demon to get harmed any further.

Kurama though turned and smirked at the rest of the group. "There is no need. He merely caught me by surprise. He will not do so again."

Genbu just rolled his eyes. "Stubborn I see. Well then, let's test that resolve shall we?" Suddenly Genbu's whole body was sinking into the stone floor.

"HIS WHOLE BODY'S SINKING NOW!" Yusuke yelled. They all looked around for any signs of Genbu. "I can't even sense that thing's energy." Kuwabara muttered.

Nobunaga had no luck detecting him either. "It's not that we can't sense him, he's dispersed his energy evenly all over the room so that we can't exactly pinpoint him." He said trying to find a strong pull but to no avail. He grudgingly had to admit this demon was smart to do that.

Kurama slowly stood up so as not to aggravate the wound any further and looked left and right for any sign of the stone demon. Suddenly he heard a yell and turned to find Genbu coming out of the ground and lunge and at him. "From behind again!" He exclaimed but never noticed the demons tail coming from behind.

"WATCH OUT FOR THE DAMN TAIL!" Nobunaga yelled as it aimed for the fox's back. Kurama was able to escape both attacks without any more injuries thankfully. Genbu glared at Kurama as he landed unharmed and sunk back into the ground.

"HE'S SINKING AGAIN!" Yusuke yelled out angrily.

"Tch." Nobunaga clicked his tongue annoyed. "The bastard's too cowardly to stay above the ground. The room acts as a safety net."

"Dispicable." Kuwabara muttered as the demon sunk back in.

"HAHAHAHAH!" Genbu cackled maniacally throughout the room. "You won't beat me by just escaping! I'll make sure you none of you come out alive!"

Kurama closed his eyes and smirked. "You're right. I suppose it's time to fight for real this time." He said running a hand through his hair and pulling out a red rose.

"A flower...?" Yusuke questioned confused.

"If he's trying to win the monster over I don't think that's gonna work." Kuwabara muttered.

Hiei smirked and Nobunaga just groaned at the idiocy of the two humans facepalming and shaking his head. "These two really don't know **anything** do they..." He stated more than questioned.

"It's no ordinary flower." Kurama said softly as he flicked the blossom turning it into a thorny ten foot long whip. "ROSE WHIP!" Rose petals scattered all over the room.

"Well...Everything's coming up roses..." Yusuke muttered uneasily as the petals fluttered down.

"It smells girly...I don't think I like him." Kuwabara muttered giving Kurama a look and internally questioning the fox's masculinity.

"What so he should be like you and like kittens?" Yusuke teased the other human about his weakness for cats riling him up.

"Both of you shut the hell up and pay attention. You just might learn something useful." Nobunaga spoke sourly glaring at the humans before brushing a few petals that had landed in his hair off. He knew that weapons like Kurama's whip held more power than they appeared but even he had to agree the petal shower was a bit much. He was cut from his musings when a foul smell wafted. _Wait a minute...If the room smells like roses then what the hell is that godawful smell?_ he thought and then his eyes widened in realization as to why Kurama had summoned the petal shower.

From somewhere in the room Genbu mocked Kurama. "Fool! Do you truly believe that a whip can stand a chance against the likes of me!?"

Kurama just chuckled. "If that's how you feel then why don't you come at me then?"

Genbu exclaimed again. "You'll regret those words!"

Kurama closed his eyes for a few moments then they shot open and glared at the ceiling. Kurama flicked his whip toward it. "FOUND YOU!" He yelled and Genbu fell from the ceiling just in time.

"WHAT!? BUT HOW DID YOU?" Genbu yelled enraged and confused as to how Kurama had managed to track him down.

The fox chuckled again. "The room is filled with the roses' sweet scent. It became easier to track down your putrid stench."

Hiei smirked as Kurama went to attack. "Look closely humans. The thorns on Kurama's whip are powerful enough to cut through even solid stone." Nobunaga sent a smirk back to him. "Somehow I don't disagree with that Hiei." He said finally using the other thief's name.

"ROSE WHIP LASH!" Kurama lashed out his whip repeatedly and fast slicing Genbu into several pieces.

"ALL RIGHT HE GOT HIM!" Yusuke cheered.

"Hmph! That monster wasn't so tough." Kuwabara boasted. Nobunaga just punched him in the back of the head, his annoyance making itself known again. "OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" He yelled at the exile. Nobunaga just gave him a whithering glare that sent a chill down his spine. "Just shut up you ignorant fool. You're not the one who fought him."

Hiei put in his two cents. "Only Kurama could have beaten him that easily. Had it been you, you would have died the second the battle began." He said giving the human a distasteful look.

This made Kuwabara furious. "You're really starting to make me mad you know that shrimp! I'll have you know that I placed third in Genkai's disciple tournament!"

"Like that would've made a difference?" Nobunaga muttered his voiced heavily laced with sarcasm. He smirked when Kuwabara began to get mad again.

"Come on let's just get up the stairs already!" Yusuke exclaimed already going up one of the steps.

"That's right." Kurama agreed following. "We must..." Kurama cut himself off. Nobunaga turned back to Genbu's unmoving body and felt a strong tug of his energy. "Kurama..." he muttered trailing off knowing that the fox demon knew what he was thinking.

"Yes I'm afraid so. It appears that this hasn't ended just yet."

"Wait what are you both talking about?" Yusuke asked not understanding what it was the two were talking about. He and the other two looked at Genbu's body and were shocked.

Slowly the pieces of Genbu's body floated and reattached themselves. When the body was put back together it picked up Genbu's head securing into place. The head spoke as it was reattached. "It's no use pathetic weaklings. No matter how you try I cannot be defeated.

"No f**king way... How the hell did he..." Yusuke trailed off in shock. "Dammit..." Nobunaga muttered under his breath angrily.

Kuwabara grit his teeth hard to the point that Yusuke thought he was going to break his teeth. "This guy...He just put himself back together even though Kurama sliced him up. Does he have some kinda healing power or something?"

Genbu looked over to the other four and grinned maliciously. "Not only can I regenerate my body, I can also attack like this! HORIZONTAL BOULDER EXPLOSION!" Genbu yelled and suddenly his arms and head came off his body and launched themselves at Kurama who used his whip to slice genbu into tiny slithers of rock in order to protect himself from the damage of the attack.

Yusuke cheered. "ALL RIGHT!" Kuwabara cheered along side him. "There's no way he could've survived that!"

Nobunaga's eyes narrowed at the pieces and all their eyes widened when Genbu put himself back together once again except it seemed that Kurama was the only one who noticed something gleaming among the rocks that formed Genbu's body.

"Did you even hear what I said? There's no way for you to defeat me! I'll keep coming back again and again no matter how many times you try to slice me into pieces!" He roared. "Now...PREPARE FOR YOUR DEATH! HORIZONTAL BOULDER EXPLOSION!" Genbu's body broke into pieces again launching himself into Kurama's range. Kurama however didn't pick up his whip and instead went into a defensive position as the rocks hit him head on.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT IDIOT THINKING!?" Nobunaga yelled out mentally reviewing the healing spells he knew. With the amount of damage the fox was taking it would take a few months to fully recover. However with Nobunaga's healing it would only take a matter of days depending on how much of the damage could be healed after this battle came to an end. They were on a time limit to destroy the whistle after all.

After the attack was over Kurama kneeled on the ground steadying himself as his body trembled from the blood loss. Genbu laughed as he put himself back together again. "You've wasted the last of your resources. You're finished." However Kurama chuckled. "What's this? Have you become so frightened that you've lost you're sanity? Allow me to relieve you of that pain then!" Genbu yelled but then stopped when he realized something was very wrong.

"W-what? How did you wind up on the ceiling?!" He yelled confused. Laughter suddenly erupted from the side where the rest of the group was. At first Kurama thought it was Yusuke or Kuwabara but upon turning his head found Nobunaga laughing his heart out grinning at Genbu's predicament. It was a rather nice laugh as well. Whispery but well-suited for the man as tears began to run down his tightly shut eyes from laughing so hard and clutching his sides. A smile crept on Kurama's face as well when Yusuke and Kuwabara began to laugh after getting over the intially shock of hearing one from the surly exile.

"W-wait what's going on?! Why is he upside down?!" Genbu yelled.

The three began to laugh even harder. None of Genbu's body parts were in any of the right places. Kurama's last attack really screwed the stone demon up. "HAHAHAHA! COVER YOUR SHAME!" Kuwabara cried. "Makes me wonder how he's gonna use the bathroom!" Yusuke cracked up barely even able to say anything due to laughing so hard.

Genbu then realized why his body was screwed up. "Where's my-" he was cut off by Kurama holding up a gleaming red stone. "Looking for this I suppose?"

A cold sweat ran down Genbu's head at the stone that Kurama was holding. "That's my..."

"Yes. I believe that this is the equivelant of the cerebral portion in the brain which controls the body's movement. In other words, this stone controls your ability to both take yourself apart and put yourself back together. You did well trying to hide it from me but when you use it, it glows making it unescapable from my eyes." Kurama smirked at the trembling demon. "My specialty is finding what others cannot see because I am by nature, a bandit.

"W-wait! P-please spare me! Don't destroy it I beg of you!" The stone demon began to plead the fox for mercy. Kurama scoffed in disgust. "I refuse to do such a thing." He said and tossed the stone in the air slicing it in two with his whip and destroyed it in turn destroying Genbu.

"Finally it's over." Yusuke sighed in relief. Then Kurama fell to his knees from the pain and bloodloss. "S**t! Kurama are you all right?" Yusuke asked helping Kurama up until Nobunaga stopped him from getting up.

"Hang on. Keep him kneeling. I have to close the wound." He said kneeling in front of the demon and muttering an incantation. Normally he would have used healing without chanting but due to the extent of the fox's blood loss stronger healing magic was definitely needed. Once again white flames erupted and covered Nobunaga's hands and he placed one over the worst of Kurama's wounds: The gash on his stomach and chest. Kurama just looked at him curiously while the humans looked at the white flames in awe as they began to sew and renew the flesh.

Nobunaga caught Kurama's curious stare and grumbled. "What the hell are you looking at fox...?"

Kurama smiled gently at the other boy's attitude. "I believe that the last time we met and I had a wound similar to this, you said that the next time I was injured you wouldn't bother healing me." He gaged the boy's reaction and stifled a laugh when he huffed moodily and went back to focusing on healing his more troubling wounds.

Nobunaga's pale cheeks were the faintest shade of pink due to embarrassment. "Someone has to do it and I doubt that any of these morons can actually heal, let alone cover a wound. Besides we need you for the rest of this mission and I doubt you want to explain your injuries if your mother sees you like this after ward."

"HEY!" Yusuke and Kuwabara yelled at him angrily but the Yusuke turned his attention back to the fox demon. "Just leave the rest to us." he said smiling at him but giving the exile a pointed glare for the 'moron' comment.

Kuwabara nodded as well. "Yeah, I'll take care of the next one."

Nobunaga was finished healing the worst of the wounds. "Well that wound is mostly healed now. However with the condition you're in at the moment there's no way you're going to be able to fight another demon like that." He went to get up and follow the others up the stairs but was stopped by Kurama grabbing his hand. "What is it now?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Forgive me for asking as I remember you saying it was none of my business, but what exactly are you? You never answered my question." Kurama pried. His curiousity was getting the better of him. He wanted to know exactly what Nobunaga exactly was. He tried to read further into the other's energy but found he couldn't exactly pinpoint what apparition it could belong to.

Nobunaga just gave him a nasty look and ripped his hand from the demon's grip. "I said it once and I'll say it again." He hissed. "It's none of your damn business. Try anything funny after this is all over though and I might not hesitate to kill you." He said and walked up the stairs with the fox following behind him.

Kurama was alone in his thoughts following the others until the deep voice of his other self rang through his mind again. _He is neither human nor demon Shuichi we are certain of that._ The deep voice spoke. _**I am well aware Youko. However I can't just go making assumptions about him. He is more powerful than the rest of us realize. I am sure of it.**_He responded back to the other inhabitant. Golden eyes gleamed dangerously in the back of his mind and he focused on the task at hand. However he knew that the rest of them would learn about Nobunaga eventually.

It was only a matter of time.

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**Author's note:** There! I honestly had to fix some dialogue around the end. I didn't like how Nobunaga sounded in some parts and now I think it's better. See you all in the next chapter!

Ja'ne-Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	7. Kuwabara vs Byakko Part 1

Please remember that the battle between Byakko and Kuwabara is separated into two parts due to the length. Please also remember to review. Critiques are welcomed but I do not tolerate flames

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho in any way. I only own my OCs

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Chapter 7: Kuwabara vs Byakko part 1

After the defeat of Genbu the team was on their way again to destroy the demon whistle. "How're you doing Kurama?" Yusuke asked the fox demon. Said demon was next to Nobunaga who was making sure that he wasn't aggravating his wounds.

"I will be fine Yusuke thank you." He said smiling kindly at the human.

"So now we are down to four. Hmph. Aside from myself, the detective, and the creature I doubt the buffoon will be able to handle the next battle himself.

"Who the hell are you calling creature you damn-" Nobunaga's muttering was cut off by Kurama's hand on his shoulder. Nobunaga looked at him curiously but the demon merely spoke.

"Please do not take anything that Hiei says to heart. He merely does not know what to refer to you as. Speaking of which you still are not willing to say what you are?" He asked. Nobunaga frowned at him and glared. "Not on you life fox." he bit out. Nobunaga walked past him toward the others where Kuwabara was having yet another argument with Hiei.

"What did I tell you before shrimp! I said leave the next one to me! I can handle it!" He yelled out to the demon.

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "You were freaking out before when Kurama fought."

Nobunaga added to the fire. "You said and I quote: There's no way we can take out a monster like that.' So tell us why the sudden boost of confidence?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

Kuwabara smirked haughtily and puffed his chest out in pride. "I was only freaking out because I was surprised." He grinned and held his hand out in front of the group. "I didn't sit around doing nothing after Genkai's tournament you know!" He said toward Yusuke. "Because I've training myself constantly I can do this now." Kuwabara concentrated looking at his right hand. Suddenly a burst of orange energy sprouted and formed the shape of a sword around his hand. "SPIRIT SWORD!"

Nobunaga gave a small smirk crossing his arms. "Congradulations. You've managed to back up that mouth of yours."

Hiei smirked. "So it's not a wooden sword."

Kuwabara began to get irritated again. "WHY YOU-" This time he was cut off by Yusuke. "Cut it out already." He growled out and Nobunaga sighed with relief that he wasn't going to have to use the silencing spell again.

"Forget it. Gaze upon the fruits of my training! SWORD GET LONGER!" Kuwabara yelled and the sword did as commanded.

Yusuke whistled. " 'Bout as long as a bamboo stick."

"Huh. " Nobunaga grunted impressed that the other human was able to do that in so little time.

Kuwabara grinned. "It bends and moves at my will." Then his face grew serious. "I was only afraid of the sight of that last monster but now I'm prepared! LEAVE THE NEXT ONE TO ME!" he yelled. Kuwabara suddenly clutched his head tightly. "Whoa...I feel so tired all of a sudden."

Yusuke nearly fell down at that. "I REALLY CAN'T STAND YOU RIGHT NOW!?" He yelled.

Nobunaga just smacked a hand to his forehead. "Well who's bright idea was it to let the guy come along." He stated looking at Yusuke from the corner of his eye. "Shut up..." Said human muttered and Nobunaga smirked in triumph.

A sudden roar boomed and shook the entire room that the group was standing in. "What the hell was that?" Yusuke said looking around the room.

Kuwabara began to shake in fear like when he had first seen Genbu. "W-what was that noise! It's not from this world!"

Nobunaga just sighed and palmed his forehead again in irritation at the human's ignorance. "This is the demon plane genius... Again why the hell did you come?" He muttered that last part more to himself.

Kurama's eyes roamed down the hall in front of them. "That sounded like the roar of Byakko...and from the sound of it he's not in a pleasant mood."

Yusuke began to charge. "WELL WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!? LET'S GO!"

Nobunaga began to yell running after him with the others following. "DUMBASS! WAIT FOR THE REST OF US!"

The tower soon gave to a large ring outside where a large white tiger with a green mane and stripes smirked at them menacingly from the other side. Yusuke looked down from the ring and his eyes widened at the drop. "Damn...one stumble and splat..." He muttered but his attention was soon refocused onto the tiger demon who began to yell.

"So you're the fools that Suzaku forced me to come out for? Tch, that weakling Genbu was nothing!"

Yusuke's eyes widened at the demons height. "Damn he's tall!"

Kurama nodded. "About ten feet at the most I'm sure."

Kuwabara on the other hand began to sweat bullets at the sight of the demon. "This...Definitely wasn't in our arrangement."

Nobunaga and Yusuke both gave him a strange look. "There wasn't an agreement at all." Yusuke said feeling a sweatdrop come down.

"What the hell are you going on about? Like hell there was any agreement..." Nobunaga muttered to no one.

Byakko clenched his fists tightly in rage. "It's bad enough that I've been locked up in this castle without even tasting a morsel of human flesh. Now the Reikai has the gall to send two humans, two betrayers, and a..." Byakko sniffed again and Nobunaga began to tense. "...what in blazes is with them...?" He mummered.

"That's what I'd like to know." Hiei looked at Nobunaga trying to figure that out.

"Hmph...Two humans, Two betrayers, and some sort of bizzare creature as well." Nobunaga calmed down tremendously at that. Byakko hadn't realized he was the 'Exile of Worlds' because his spirit energies made it difficult to differentiate. He was still irked at being called a creature though.

"LISTEN UP TRASH!" Byakko yelled again. "ALL HUMANS ARE MY FOOD! HIEI, KURAMA, AND YOU STRANGE CREATURE! YOU WILL BE SHREDED TO PIECES AND FEED TO THE HUNGRY GHOULS!"

_Grrrrrrrrrrrr...What I wouldn't give to be the one tearing him apart...I'd like to see the terror on his face then. _Nobunaga thought feeling his canines elongate.

"Such a terrifying noise...It sounds as if his stomach is tearing its very self apart." Kurama stated as a a loud howl ripped from Byakko's throat and into the open.

Kuwabara tried to show that he was not scared by stepping up to have a battle with the tiger demon. "Quit mumbling to yourself and let's do this."

Yusuke whipped his head around and looked at the other human as if he grew another head. "Kuwabara what the hell are you doing?!"

Nobunaga looked annoyed at him. "You're all talk right now. I hope you know that we can see that."

Kuwabara looked at him offended. "And what makes you so sure about that?"

Yusuke backed the exile up. "Please tell me your knees are shaking because you're holding back a lot of spiritual pressure." Kuwabara's legs shook like they were being held down by tremendous weight. It wouldn't be surprising if his legs gave out.

"I said I was going to fight already so here I come!" The human stated walking into the ring to face the tiger demon.

"I don't know what's going to get him killed first. His pride or his ignorance." Hiei muttered.

"I'd bet on his pride." Nobunaga stated rubbing his temples. He could feel another migrane coming on. All this nonsense couldn't be good for his mental health.

Byakko raised an eyebrow at only Kuwabara walking toward him. "Only one will fight?" Suddenly he began to laugh. "This is so amusing that I can't even get angry!"

Kuwabara yelled at the demon getting his attention. "COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"

Byakko smirked and ran a hand through his mane. "Hehe. Don't make me laugh any more than I have at your pathetic display human. Against something like you I don't even need to lift a finger. Byakko grabbed four strands of fur from his mane and tossed then toward Kuwabara. The strands transformed to become four hidieous beasts. "Let's see how well you do against my pets. You'll regret your decision to fight me when you are sent to your death!"

Kuwabara screamed in surprise and shock when one of the beasts attacked him and caused blood to spurt out of his shoulder and cheek. "Damn you! SPIRIT SWORD!" He yelled summoning his blade.

Byakko laughed cruelly. "So this filthy pest knows how to wield such a weapon?" he said referring to the use of spirit energy as a weapon. "It doesn't matter though! My pets will tear you apart before you can even move!" Two more beasts attacked the human who did the only defense he could at the moment: He swung his spirit sword at them. However he only got bloodier as a result.

Hiei's eyes narrowed as they wandered toward the human. "It doesn't look as if the fool will last much longer."

Yusuke shouted. "KUWABARA LET ME DO IT! MY SHOT GUN MIGHT BE ABLE TO HIT THE OTHER BEASTS! YOU MIGHT NOT STAND A CHANCE!"

Byakko cackled at the group as Kuwabara kept trying to fight the beasts off. "It doesn't matter if you try to help him or if you attack all at once. I will make sure you all perish!"

Kuwabara yelled at Yusuke's plea to let him switch. "I'm gonna defeat him Urameshi! Just watch! If you even think about cutting in I'll kill you myself!" he threatened.

"It might just be best to let him fight." Nobunaga said and Yusuke turned to him disbelievingly. "Are you crazy!? He's gonna get himself killed!"

Nobunaga just looked at him and Yusuke found himself looking at eyes that contained not only hints of irritation but an impressive amount of wisdom and calm. "You don't give him enough credit. He's foolish, I'll give him that, but he's not entirely stupid. He knows what's at stake here."

Yusuke just stayed silent and then went back to watching his friend struggle against the demonic beasts.

"BEASTS! TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB! HIS HEAD AND TORSO WILL BE LEFT FOR ME!" Byakko yelled.

That ticked Kuwabara off as he began to yell "It took me a while to get my energy back. Do you seriously think I'm gonna let you have my arms and legs just like that?" he said referring to when his arm was broken by the demon Rando.

"KUWABARA! DON'T PUSH IT! I TOLD YOU YOU! SWITCH WITH ME! YOUR SWORD'S NOT GOING TO BE ENOUGH TO FINISH OFF THOSE MONSTERS ALL AT ONCE!" Yusuke yelled trying to talk some sense into the other human.

Kuwabara looked back to the group and it looked as if a light bulb had gone off in his head. "That's right!" He said and he began running toward them.

Byakko was confused for a moment before he laughed at Kuwabara running. "So you decided to go back to your team? Hah! It doesn't matter! TEAR THEM TO PIECES!"

However before Kuwabara got to the group he steered himself toward a pillar with the beasts chasing after him. He glared at the tiger demon before yelling. "WHO THE HELL SAYS I'M RUNNING AWAY!? I WAS JUST LEADING THEM WHERE I WANTED! SWORD GET LONGER!" The sword went through each beast in a clean shot and they were skewered together in a line.

Byakko was stunned as was the rest of the group. "W-what?"

Kuwabara smirked. "I ONLY RAN THIS WAY SO THAT I COULD GET THEM INTO LINE!"

Byakko grew angry again. "You are a fool! My beasts will not be killed by the likes of you so easily! ATTACK HIM!" He ordered and the demons began to run toward Kuwabara with their claws ready to dig into his flesh. Kuwabara started running around the pillar with the beasts chasing him forming a circle.

"Wait what the hell is he doing?" Yusuke said sweatdropping. The others looked just as confused and Nobunaga answered. "What makes you think that the rest of us know?" He rubbed the back of his neck confused at the display.

"Try this on for size!" Kuwabara yelled as he grabbed both ends of the sword and linked them together chaining the beasts. "Anyone want roasted monster?" He joked.

Hiei glanced at Kuwabara and his linked sword. "To have linked your sword together...Such odd ideas."

Kuwabara looked up triumphantly at Byakko. "So big monster, ready to come down and fight me for real? BECAUSE YOU'RE NEXT!" He pointed at the tiger.

Byakko just became angrier and his muscles began to bulge. "THAT'S IT! NOW YOU'VE REALLY PISSED ME OFF!"

"Are you gonna come down and fight me or what!" Kuwabara yelled at the demon getting tired of waiting.

"Kuwabara don't push it." Yusuke muttered as the other human kept trying to taunt the demon.

A hand came onto his shoulder and he looked up to find Nobunaga shaking his head. "Forget it. The guy's not going to listen to reason at all. Might just be best to wait until Byakko get's pissed enough to come down and fight. Have to admit though this is kinda amusing."

Yusuke gave him a deadpan expression at the 'amusing' comment but supposed his could understand the reasoning part. From behind the two Kurama and Hiei were watching as well. Kurama with worry about the orange haired human and Hiei with disinterest.

Hiei spoke. "What was this theory of yours that you had on the creature?" He asked with slight curiosity.

Kurama closed his eyes as he began to speak. "I'm afraid I still do not have enough evidence to prove it true. However Nobunaga has proven to be proficient in spell casting. How much, I'm not aware of but I'm aware of the fact that he may be holding back more power than he is letting on. It is a possibility that he is a witch of some sort but even that is a vague idea."

"Hmph. Whether he is human-born or demon-born remains to be unseen then I suppose." Hiei stated.

Kurama merely glanced at him before his eyes roamed over to Nobunaga who was still speaking with Yusuke. "Yes that does remain to be unseen. However the energy around him is neither that of a human or demon-born witch. It is too muddled for me to make out clearly even with my senses." He finished and them turned to Hiei who was digesting the information.

"You are forgetting another witch class fox." Hiei spoke.

Kurama nodded. Hiei was referring to the soul-born class of witches which was the rarest class of the three categories. Comprised of two full fledged spirits, these types of witches had the strongest affinity for magic than did the other two classes. He'd only ever met one Soul-born witch on occasion when he was still a full demon, but she had long since been killed by Reikai soldiers. The fox took to studying Nobunaga.

The body of a young man in his late teens, hair black like ink and skin white as snow. His eyes were what really brought attention though. His right eye brown like rich amber honey that blazed like fire when he became angered and his left eye like looking into an abyss of frost and darkness. The left was hidden by long bangs framing a delicate looking face but he knew that boy was anything but delicate. His clothing this time revealed that he had a rather lanky frame and muscle showed even if it seemed slight. Kurama's eyes roamed down to the boy's neck and unblemished skin exposed that he suddenly had the urge to taste.

_I wouldn't mind making him mine you know. _Yoko's voice purred within the confines of Kurama's mind. Green eyes widened and his body stiffened. _**You will not lay a hand on him if I can do anything about it Youko. He will not be another one of your lovers nor will I let you devour his soul.**_ Kurama argued with his counterpart. Though Youko was a part of him he was a tad bit ashamed as well. Youko had his string of lovers over time and had been a bloodthristy bandit wanting power and wealth. He wouldn't lie about his attraction to the other male though. Nobunaga was certainly attractive and his surly disposition, rather than off putting, only seemed to add to his boyish charm. It was actually rather cute._** What you seek may very well only be physical contact and whatever power he may contain.**_

Youko only scoffed at the thought. _How long will you lie to yourself? It is not his power that neither I nor you crave. You know just as well as I do that there is more than a physical attraction to him. His is easy on the eyes though I will give him that. I wouldn't mind hearing a few moans come out of that mouth myself. _Kurama had the decency to blush slightly but kept quiet and Yoko said nothing more. The fox was brought out of his musings when Byakko finally came down from his perch. From the looks of it the tiger also increased in size somehow and towered over Kuwabara.

"He looks even taller now..." Yusuke trailed off and looked at his friend worried.

Byakko pointed a clawed hand at Kuwabara. "That sword of yours will do nothing against me!" he boasted "Even if it is your only formidable weapon the chances of winning against me are zero!"

Kuwabara got into a stance and ran at Byakko with his sword ready to strike. "Whether it's of use or not against you...Then let's test it out!" He yelled and began to strike Byakko with exceptionally well timed hits.

Hiei began to comment. "Though he is doing well against him it seems like the buffoon is getting more tired than Byakko."

Kuwabara began to pant. "Damn... I'm getting tired but he isn't countering...Not only that but he lookss bigger than before..."

Nobunaga then noticed something odd. "Wait...is it just me or is Kuwabara losing more energy than normal..."

Kurama gasped in realization. "So that's what he's been planning!"

Yusuke looked at him in exasperation. "Well tell us then! Don't leave the rest of us in the dark!"

"Look at the sword and tell me what you see." Nobunaga said pointing to Kuwabara's sword. Yusuke's eyes widened. "I-IT'S SHRINKING!"

"It seems that Byakko has the ability to drain energy. He's draining Kuwabara of his and transfering it to use it as his own." the fox explained.

Byakko cackled as Kuwabara seemed to realize what was happening to him. "So what will you do now? Abandon your sword and fight bare-handed?"

Kuwabara glared at the demon. "DON'T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME!" He yelled and made his sword bigger again charging his way toward the demon.

Yusuke tried to talk sense into his friend again. "FORGET ABOUT IT KUWABARA!"

Kurama backed him up trying to talk sense into the other human. "You're only giving him more of your energy!"

Kuwabara grit his teeth and thrust his sword at the demon. Byakko roared. "Fool!" Kuwabara's sword landed on his shoulder and then sparks began to surround the human. His eyes began to roll into the back of his head and he fell back to the ground as Byakko grew another size.

Byakko looked amazed as Kuwabara slowly began to stand. Nobunaga looked impressed as well. It had been a long time since he'd seen a human with such determination.

Kuwabara stood up and looked defiantly at the tiger demon. "It's not over yet!" He cried going into a fighting stance.

Yusuke gasped. "His sword's only about as long as a short sword!" Nobunaga nodded grimly. "Byakko's absorbed most of Kuwabara's energy now. This will be crucial for him."

Kuwabara was now sensing exactly how much energy had been drained from him and stumbled a little which didn't escape the notice of Byakko who cackled stepping closer to him. "Heh...Feeling drained now? Believe me human, THE HORROR IS ONLY JUST BEGINNING!" With that the demon grew larger still and sent a fist straight at Kuwabara's jaw. Blood spurted through clenched teeth as Kuwabara was sent flying to a wall. Byakko cackled. "I'll make sure you die slowly. It will be a good exercise for me after all. I'll eat your flesh as soon as I digest your energy!"

Yusuke couldn't hold back any longer. "If he stays in this fight he's going to die for sure! I'm going in!" He was stopped by Kurama's hand though and looked at the demon in exasperated questioning. "What the hell is it now!? If we don't do something soon Kuwabara's gonna get himself killed!" He yelled at the fox angrily.

"Please wait a moment Yusuke. There is one more move that Kuwabara may be able to pull off. Byakko's body is at it's limit of expansion. If Kuwabara realizes this..." He trailed off.

Nobunaga whipped his head to Kurama and looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Kurama I have to agree with Yusuke on this. What you're thinking of is suicidal to Kuwabara. If it fails he's going to definitely lose his life."

Yusuke glared at both of them. "I am not going to let him die like this. He has to switch out." Before he could do anything though the group watched as Kuwabara stood up again wiping the blood from his mouth and mumbling something that none of them could hear. Byakko laughed again. "Saying your last wishes are we?" he raised his claws prepared to give one final blow and kill the human. "I'll fufill those wishes then and let you die!" He struck his claws down on Kuwabara. "YOUR LIFE WILL BE MINE!" Just as he thrust down his claws, Kuwabara brought out his spirit sword and stabbed it into Byakko's stomach making him gasp.

"I'll give you all my remaining energy!" He yelled digging the sword even further into the demon's stomach.

Yusuke feared for his friend's life. "KUWABARA'S GONE INSANE! WHAT THE F**K ARE YOU DOING DUMBASS! YOU'RE GONNA DIE!"

The sword soon disappeared and Kuwabara fell back onto the ground his body remaining still.

Byakko cackled and brought his foot up. "Hehe...Giving me the last of your spirit energy was a fatal move on your part. It's going to make it easier for me to kill you now! FIRST OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" He yelled.

"THAT'S IT I'M GOING IN!" Yusuke yelled out ready to inlfict pain on the tiger demon. He was stopped by Nobunaga grabbing his arm though. "Hang on something's odd about Byakko."

Nobunaga's words rang true as disgusting gurgling noises rang from the demon's potbelly stomach. From the looks of it Byakko was going to be sick.

The tiger demon clutched his stomach his eyes widening. "W-what's going on!?" He yelled out. It looked as if the spirit energy was trying to burst out.

Kuwabara slowly sat up and grinned at the out come of his attack. "Just like I predicted!"

Yusuke grinned with relief. "Kuwabara you're alright!" Then the energy that was in Byakko suddenly burst sending the demon sky high.

Kurama chuckled as the demon was sent flying. "It seems that Kuwabara's energy exceed the limit that Byakko could take in."

Nobunaga whistled. "That's an understatement fox. He looks like a hot air balloon that popped." He chuckled not seeing Kurama blush slightly at the grin he gave.

Kuwabara smirked. "Better breathe in some of that spirit energy that got released and get my strength back." He said trying to breath in.

Kurama smiled. "You're already beginning to get some of your energy back." Right after he said that the group could see Byakko's body drop from the sky and into the castle.

Yusuke grinned laughing. "HAH! Serves the bastard right!" His cheers were cut short though when they saw a body rise up. Byakko had somehow risen again! It seemed that the spirit energy had also caused him to go back to his original form when the battle had first begun.

"HOW THE HELL IS HE UP AGAIN! WHAT, DOES HE HAVE AN IMMORTAL BODY TOO!?" Yusuke screamed in shock.

Nobunaga rubbed his forehead feeling another headache come on again. "I guess that myth about cats having nine lives applies to feline demons too."

Byakko smirked looking down at the shocked group. "I admit that I am touched by your fighting. An impressive display regardless of how much your life was hanging by a mere thread. To show you my appreciation I invite you to my room! THE HOUSE OF HORROR!"

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**Author's note**: I changed the dialogue with Hiei and Kurama discussing what Nobunaga was because when I read it over again I felt it went too fast following chapter 10. That and I needed to explain the witch classes here too. If I need to explain the witch classes again just PM me and I'll be happy to explain. that or re-read chapter 1 where I first explained it. See you guys in the next chapter.

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	8. Kuwabara vs Byakko part 2

Once again a rewritten chapter with less grammatical error and better dialogue when needed. Please remember to review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Only my OC. Also some spells/ summonings/ items will be used from the game Bravely Default throughout the story. Not all of them but some will be used because of their sheer awesomeness.

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Chapter 8: Kuwabara vs. Byakko part 2

As the group walked through the hallway to face Byakko in his domain Yusuke kept trying to disuade Kuwabara from fighting again. However the stubborn human kept refusing to back down.

"Kuwabara will you just listen?!" Yusuke seethed frustrated. "You barely made it out the first time fighting that thing. You fight it again and you might just croak!"

Nobunaga and Kurama also tried to talk sense into the other human but to no avail. "Please reconsider. You may just wind up dying against Byakko if you fight him a second time."

"They're both right dumbass. You may be getting your energy back but you've barely got enough to fight against that overgrown pussy cat. If anything I'll fight him this time." Nobunaga suggested. Kuwabara might have gotten some of his energy back but his injuries would most likely hinder his fighting abilities. Nobunaga had gone to heal him but the guy flat out refused saying that he had to finish the demon off as fast as possible to which Nobunaga rolled his eyes.

"I told you, this is my fight so don't pull me out of it" he turned toward Yusuke and Kurama. "and don't fight my battles." He finished looking over at Nobunaga.

"Again I'm betting your pride's gonna kill you one of these days." Nobunaga stated dryly. "Fine go ahead and fight. When you start feeling drained though don't come crying to any of us." he waved a hand dismissively at the orange haired human who ignored his statement.

With that they kept walking and Yusuke began to whisper to the exile. "Why did you say that? When we get to the room one of us could fight Byakko instead."

Nobunaga sighed and just gave him a look a that said 'Do you really think it will be that easy to do?' "You're forgetting Yusuke. For Kuwabara this isn't just about saving the city. To him his pride as a fighter and man is on the line here. He feels that if one of us fights this battle instead of him he's going to lose his worth. It might be wise to just let him fight and then help out if things get too out of hand." He muttered.

"Damn it the idiot's too stubborn to think this through." Yusuke muttered.

"Nobunaga let out an amused snort at this statement. "Yeah got to hand to him. He's even more pigheaded than you are."

"WHY YOU-" Yusuke began to yell at the other male but was cut off by Kuwabara.

"Wait is it getting hot in here or am I the only one feeling it?" he muttered beginning to sweat.

The group felt the room grow warmer as the hallway turned cavernous and they entered the room of Byakko. They were greeted by the sight of the tiger demon standing on one of many pillars in the room. The real shocker was that the bottom of the room was covered in molten lava.

"Holy s**t!" Yusuke yelled out as he stared at the lava covering the bottom of the battleground.

"It's not too late to back down." Nobunaga muttered to the other human who began sweating bullets again as the piece of fabric he dropped into the lava disintegrated before even touching it.

Kuwabara only shook his head. "I said I was gonna fight this guy and I'm gonna finish the job. Don't even think about cutting in." the human stated.

"Interesting don't you think?" Byakko spoke. "This is my playroom." The tiger demon was standing on his pillar and smirking at the group. He looked as if he hadn't even fought.

"He's still alive and kicking!" Kuwabara yelled out flabbergasted.

"Truly a monster..." Yusuke trailed off in horrified awe.

"Hehe. As you can see the entire floor of the room is covered in lava that will disinigrate your bones once you fall in." he explained the smirk never leaving his fur covered face. "Now who has the most guts to come and fight me."

Kuwabara was about to get on the pillar closest to him when Nobunaga stopped him.

"I already told you I'm not letting anyone fight my battle." Kuwabara growled.

Nobunaga just gave him a pointed look that said 'shut up' and reached into one of his pockets pulling out a small vial filled with an orange liquid. "Before you go in all suicidal drink this."

Kuwabara looked at the vial with uncertainty. "It's not gonna kill you. I assure you it's gonna do the opposite." the exile assured him. Kuwabara drank the liquid and nothing happened. All of a sudden the human could see something like smoke coming off one of his cuts and looked down in alarm.

He was amazed though to see that the cut wasn't burning but closing itself up. Yusuke and Kurama looked in amazement as the gashes, bruises and cuts on Kuwabara's skin began to stitch themselves together and heal.

Kuwabara looked at the exile in shock. His wounds had sealed up and it felt like his strength was returning to him little by little "It only healed your wounds. Your energy on the other hand is still pretty low so I suggest finding another way to take the bastard down." Nobunaga explained nonchalantly. Kuwabara nodded thankfulness in his eyes.

Yusuke turned to the exile. "What the hell did you give him?"

Nobunaga only crossed his arms and smirked glancing at Yusuke. "I'm 715 years old human. I should know how to make a decent healing remedy by now. The one of I gave him is made with a plant called Phoenix Down. It's an extinct plant in the Makai that can heal practically any wound and honestly the guy needed it." He explained.

Kurama and Hiei both looked at the male in shock. He was right about the plant being extinct to the Makai. The only question in their minds though was how he could have acquired such a rare thing.

The group was quickly brought back to the impending fight however. "What's the matter lost your nerve scum?" The tiger demon taunted.

"Gimmie a second I'm climbing down now!" Kuwabara yelled as he jumped down to a pillar only for the edge he landed on to crack and make him lose his footing. The group tensed but they sighed in collected relief as the human remained hanging onto the pillar and hoisted himself up.

"Kuwabara! Are you sure you don't want to swtich?" Yusuke called out.

"SHUT UP! IT WAS AN ACT! AN ACT!" Kuwabara yelled back standing up and turning to glare at the detective.

"He almost got himself killed before the battle even began." Nobunaga sighed feeling another headache come on. He seemed to be getting a lot of them today.

"Hmph. He's done well I'll admit but his stubborness may be his downfall." Hiei muttered in response.

"...We still betting on what's gonna kill him?" Nobunaga asked.

"Do you have anything to wager?" Hiei glanced at the 'young' man disinterested.

"I'll think something." Kurama could only sigh in exasperation at the conversation the two were having and sweatdropped.

"Damn it's hot in here..." Kuwabara muttered taking his school jacket off and tossing it to the side. He then summoned his spirit sword.

"This time I'm gonna put you away for good!" He called out to the demon.

Byakko grinned maliciously. "Very well then. Allow me to show you my greatest secret technique."

"Secret technique?" Kuwabara muttered in confusion.

Kuwabara and the rest of the group looked on as Byakko clenched his fists and spiritual energy began to crackle around him. It looked as if the tiger was preparing to roar. Byakko grabbed his throat and energy could be seen collecting inside.

"What the hell...?" Nobunaga said his eyes widening.

"That technique..." Kurama said in realization.

"It couldn't be..." Hiei muttered.

"BEHOLD! MY FIREBALL ATTACK!" Byakko yelled as an energy ball shot out of his throat and made it's way toward Kuwabara.

"KUWABARA DON'T LET IT TOUCH YOU!" Kurama yelled out to the human as he had been ready to hit it with his sword like a baseball. Kuwabara jumped out the way onto another pillar just as the energy ball hit the one he had been standing on. The human watched in shock as the pillar disintegrated.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING!?" He turned back toward the tiger demon who smirked.

"That was my fireball attack. A super oscillating howl that will turn anything it touches into nothing but dust."

Hiei looked down at the fight. "I had heard that there was a demon who could fire sonic blasts that disintegrate anything that they touch. But to think that it could have been Byakko..."

"So Kuwabara can't even touch them with his spirit sword?" Yusuke muttered.

Nobunaga shook his head. "No. It's most likely that even if the blast only touched his sword he would lose even more of his energy."

Hiei spoke again. "If it touches him it's all over. The only thing you can do to counter it is run. I have a feeling that that is what Byakko is planning to have him do." He looked to the rest of the pillars.

"Bastard..." Kuwabara muttered at the tiger who smirked in return. "THERE'S NO ESCAPE!" Byakko began to fire several blasts at Kuwabara who cold only hop from pillar to pillar as they were hit and destroyed.

"So long as he doesn't hit me I'll be ok." Kuwabara muttered and barely made it out of they way as another blast came his way. Kuwabara leapt toward Byakko who summoned his energy and shaped it into four blades throwing them at Kuwabara. The human had no time to dodge and the blades struck him causing him to stumble a bit.

"Kuwabara are you alright?" Yusuke called out concerned for the life of his friend.

Byakko laughed. "Dropped your guard? Or did you not have time to avoid them?"

Kuwabara only smirked at the demon. "I was just giving you a handicap. That big mouth of yours makes you look pretty undignified."

Byakko grew angry at the insult. "What do you hope to do in your condition. I've run you completely ragged!"

Kuwabara got into a fighting position. "I won't be satisfied until I beat you with my own two hands."

Byakko just kept talking. "It seems you haven't taken note of your own situation. Look around you!"

Hiei had been right. Byakko destroyed all the pillars in Kuwabara's range save for the one the human was standing on and a second one. He was going to either disintegrate Kuwabara himself or let the lava do it.

"The only thing you can do now is come at me. However the only way to do that is by jumping on that foothold." Byakko said and Kuwabara's eyes wandered to the last pillar on his side and he grimanced.

"If I destroy that foot hold there will be no where left for you to run. All that will remain is for you to wait for death." Byakko grinned in sadistic glee as Kuwabara made the slightest move to get to the pillar and destroyed it leaving Kuwabara stranded.

"Too slow human. Have you given up yet? Or have you become so frightened that you can't say a word?" Byakko taunted him.

The rest of them stood. Finally Kurama spoke. "Shall we go?" He said.

"We don't have much of a choice." Hiei stated.

"Yeah we need to get there as fast as possible." Nobunaga agreed ready to shift in order to get to Kuwabara.

"Hold it!" Kuwabara yelled out to them "I told you this is my battle! Don't go pulling anything that I don't need!"

Nobunaga got a stressmark and finally blew his lid, fangs appearing and fire bursting from his hands so hot that it became sparks of lightning. Yusuke jumped back in shock while Hiei, who had seen the male's temper rising, merely stepped away.

"YOU DUMBASS! ARE YOU F**KING BLIND TO THE SITUATION THAT YOU'RE IN!? THAT'S IT WHEN YOU FINISH THIS SON OF A BITCH I'M RIPPING YOU TO SHREDS MYSELF!" He yelled and his visible eye raging with a beyond angry fire whilst the other remained hidden. Kurama put a hand on the exile's shoulder trying to calm him down. He was surprised that the other male's hands weren't burning from the intensity of his power.

"Nobunaga please calm down. I understand your frustration but you said so yourself. It may be wise to let him fight the battle alone. Kuwabara's stubborness is keeping him from asking for assistance." Nobunaga was still seething. _He may respond to you squeezing his shoulder._ Youko suggested. Kurama would have blocked him out but it was better than nothing. He gave Nobunaga a comforting squeeze in the shoulder still talking to him and almost immediately the male began to calm down a bit. The lightning in his palms receeded but his fangs were still elongated. Kurama sighed with relief. At least he had calmed down some. _You're welcome_. Youko muttered and remained quiet again.

"Still he's got a point even in this situation Kuwabara's still saying that." Yusuke muttered.

"I agree. He can't still have a plan can he?" Kurama spoke.

"Hmph. There's no way he could." Hiei spoke.

Kuwabara began to speak to Byakko. "Nothing's gonna interfere with this so let's have some fun."

"If that's the case then I'll let you have your fun in death!" Byakko began concentrate in sending another blast toward Kuwabara.

"He's going to jump!" exclaimed Kurama.

The others watched as Kuwabara jumped and fell toward the lava. "S**T! He's not gonna make it!" Nobunaga yelled about to transform himself so he could catch the human.

"What a shame! You only had another five meters!" Byakko laughed until he along with the others gaped in shock. It turned out that Kuwabara had been aiming for the stump left of the last pillar and extended his sword into a pole of sorts to launch himself toward Byakko.

"N-no way!" Were Byakko's last words as Kuwabara punched him sending the demon into the lava to burn. However Kuwabara had misjudged the landing and began to fall toward the lava himself.

"KUWABARA!" Yusuke yelled but then felt a sudden gust of wind as did Hiei and Kurama. The three looked to find Nobunaga gone. As they turned expecting to see Kuwabara fall in, a figure grabbed him. Large black feathered wings unfurled before the two could hit the lava and flew to the pillar. The winged figure being Nobunaga himself. It turned out that the exile had used his speed to get to the area and created working wings from his own energy in order to fly down and save Kuwabara.

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Kuwabara thought he was going to hit the lava until he felt a pair of hands grab his arms. He watched as his feet got farther from the lava and land on the pillar. He turned around and was surprised to see mismatched eyes boring into his own annoyed. The eyes belonging to a ticked off Nobunaga.

"You just had to keep denying our help even though we told you you might get killed. Well kudos for actually doing it. And this" Nobunaga punched the human in the face. not hard enough to break it but enough for him to stumble to the ground and leave a mark. "Is for being a dumbass." The exile finished wings folding behind his back.

"Kuwabara was stunned into silence as he took in the great wings on Nobunaga's back. He then blurted out "Are you an angel or something?"

Nobunaga tsked. "Far from it Kuwabara." He said and turned around to the stunned ones. "OI! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GET HERE WITH THE SURROUNDING PILLARS?" He called out and after he said that the remaining three seemed to break out of a trance and hopped from pillar to pillar over to the two.

Yusuke was the first to speak. "How the hell...?" He trailed off staring at the folded wings on Nobunaga's back. He walked up to him and looked at the wings closely. "Are those real?" He muttered plucking a black feather making Nobunaga wince a little.

"Ow... Hey don't go doing that idiot." He muttered. In Yusuke's hands the black feather began to disappear and become a purple mist which retreated back to Nobunaga.

"Shape-shifting..." Kurama muttered in awe as he looked at the wings in fascination. He'd seen spirits and few users of witchcraft who were able to shift their body parts or the entirety of their bodies to become animals or animal-like. It was his first time seeing someone sprout wings from their own energy though. **_Like a da_**_**rk angel...**_ he thought as Nobunaga's wings turned into the same purple mist and retreat into him. _T__ruly a magnificent creature_ Youko muttered in his mind as Nobunaga told them to hurry up so that they could keep moving.

Kurama did not argue with Youko. The power the male had shown them was truly something else. The silence was then ruined by the bandit as he mummered _He would make a fine angel of passion wouldn't he. _He was immediately silenced by a blushing Kurama. _**You**__**ko you will not lay a hand on him**_. Kurama immediately blocked him.

As they made it to the rest of the tunnel Kuwabara was hit in the face again. This time by Yusuke. "YOU ARE SO GONNA GET IT!" He yelled as he began to pummel the other human for his stupidity. The other three watched. Kurama in light amusement, Hiei in disinterest, and Nobunaga in annoyance.

"Someone tell me why the hell Koenma hired him?" Nobunaga asked raising an eyebrow at the fight as Kurama went to go break it up.

"Hmph. Who really knows." Hiei stated turning and walking ahead.

Nobunaga turned back to the three. Kurama had successfully broken the fight but Yusuke had still done a number on Kuwabara. He sighed and followed Hiei. These people were irritating and gave him a massive migraine _But maybe..._ he thought _Maybe they aren't so bad as I had perceived them before._

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**Author's note: **well that is the end of this revised chapter. I honestly think that the changes are better than the original chapter and hopefully this was still good. Again please remember to review. I'll see you all in the next chapter.

Ja'ne-Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	9. Hiei vs Seiryuu

Welcome to chapter nine everyone. This chapter is relatively the same save for a few grammatical errors that have been corrected. Honestly I wish spell check was available on the site.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own YuYu Hakusho. I only own my OCs

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Chapter 9: Hiei vs. Seiryuu

The group was finally able to get out of Byakko's lava covered lair and move onto the next saint beast. They came to a corridor that led to a room containing six doors.

"So which one's the right way?" Nobunaga wondered. It was too dark to see anything and he couldn't sense any danger at the moment. The two demons in their team came with the same result.

"Alright Kuwabara which door should we take?" Yusuke asked the other human.

Kuwabara scratched his temple and a low hum could be heard from him. "Second door from the right." He said almost instantly causing Hiei to question him and Nobunaga to raise an eyebrow.

"Well you heard the man! Let's go!" Yusuke said and was immediately questioned by Hiei.

"Do you really believe we can trust this fool?" Hiei asked skeptically.

Kuwabara smirked giving the smaller demon a thumbs up. "Don't look down on me hamster legs! Maze walking and trap avoiding are my specialties!" he declared causing Nobunaga to pipe up.

"If that's the case then why didn't you use it when you were surrounded by lava?" He questioned with a placid look of doubt on his face further causing the human's temper to flair and hurt his ego.

"WHY YOU-!" Kuwabara was stopped though as they felt the room get colder and he began a new rant. "WHAT THE HELL!?" He yelled out rubbing his arms furiously and shivering. "WHEN THE HELL DID IT GET SO COLD IN HERE!?"

Nobunaga began holding his arms together and shivered as well. "Have to agree with him it's freezing in here!" he exclaimed blowing warm air into his hands and trying to get more circulation in his blood.

They came to a large door that had two extremely detailed dragons on either side of it. Yusuke let out a low whistle. "Yikes! Take a look at those two!"

Nobunaga nodded his agreement. "Yeah. They look like Manfuku when he used to shift." he mumbled to himself thinking fondly back to the Tengu and one of the members who used to transform into a dragon to scare him for fun.

"What did you say Nobunaga?" Kurama asked hearing him mumble at the end.

"Nothing you'll find worth hearing about fox." The male spoke still rubbing his arms. Kurama looked at him in concern. It was rather cold so that meant that Seiryuu was probably behind the door. Youko spoke again much to the red head's annoyance. _I bet I could warm him up in a heartbeat._ He purred making Kurama feel as if his cheeks were on fire. _**Youko please, just refrain from speaking about Nobunaga like that again! I would to end this mission without any more of your commentary!**_

"Are you alright?" Nobunaga's voice startled him. Kurama turned to find the exile staring at him quizically. "You've been turning red and staring into to space each time we get somewhere." He explained.

Kurama quickly tried to explain himself out of it much to Yoko's amusement. "I'm perfectly fine Nobunaga. I believe your eyes might be playing tricks on you."

Nobunaga on the other hand was not convinced. "My soul is quite wisened much like yours and Hiei's fox. I'm not stupid. I'll let it go but I can see through your lie. I hope you know that."

Kurama's heart quickened. He honestly did not wish for the other male to know that he was arguing with the bandit trapped in his mind over their attraction to said male.

"So how much do you want to bet the next saint beast is in here?" Yusuke muttered.

Kurama spoke up answering his question. "It is without a doubt that this is the room of Seiryuu. The spirit energy emanating from behind the door is greater than the two from before. They could all feel the hair standing from their necks at the amount.

_He's definitely got some serious power. I'll give him that. We can't go in charging. That's the qiuckest way to die. _Nobunaga thought preparing himself for a fight.

Suddenly the door opened shocking them. In the middle of the room stood a tall blue man wearing oriental clothing in blue with red seams and a dragon encircling his shirt. Unlike the other two before him he had black hair jutting out from under his hat and a gotee. He then began to speak.

"Your evil deeds have greatly angered Lord Suzaku." He said frowing at the five.

Nobunaga frowned greatly at this and rolled his eyes. "Our evil deeds? Who the hell is the villain here?"

"You will continue your journey no longer and none of you will die in one piece either I'm afraid." Seiryuu spoke again.

This ticked Kuwabara off. "This guy's so full of himself..."

Seiryuu seemed to pause and his frown deepened. "It seems that we have an uninvited... guest."

Nobunaga began to wonder what the demon meant by that but then he sense an all but too familiar spiritual pressure and facepalmed. "You've got to be f**king s**ting me..."

The door behind them opened and a screeching sound followed. "Wait what was that?" Kuwabara asked his eyebrows shooting up.

"It came from the direction that we just left." Kurama muttered and his eyes along with everyone else's in the group widened considerably as the charred body of Byakko slowly limped in.

"THE F**K!? HOW!?" Yusuke yelled out gobsmacked.

"WAIT BUT THAT LAVA SHOULD OF KILLED HIM ON THE SPOT! I BARELY MADE IT!" Kuwabara yelled out in disbelief as the tiger demon limped inside toward Seiryuu.

Nobunaga rubbed his temples "So I guess I was right about the whole nine lives thing..."

Kurama scolded him slightly. "Nobunaga now is not the time to say such things." Inwardly he had to agree with him though. It seemed that Byakko had more than one life to spare.

"H-help me..." The tiger begged Seiryuu. "Seiryuu... I beg of you... Please...s-spare me some... energy... I'll repay you for you kindness... after I recover..." Byakko could barely stand as the plunge into the lava took it's toll on him.

Seiryuu however only scoffed in disgust at his injured 'comrade'. "Hmph... You're nothing but a disgrace... It's disgraceful for you to even be alive right now."

"S-Seiryuu..." Byakko begged

"What the hell is he saying?" Yusuke muttered surprised at the blue clad demon's demeanor toward the tiger. Shouldn't he help him?

Nobunaga only tsked at this behavior. He had seen it countless time among both humans and demons alike. They could betray one another in the blink of an eye. _Demon or human it doesn't matter. They will always cut off the weak link without mercy._ He thought. This didn't even faze him yet he noticed that it seemed to faze Hiei of all people who he could see was clenching his fists though his face remained passive for the most part.

"You're of now use to us now." Seiryuu stated nonchantly as he raised his hand and got into a stance. "You're existance right now is basically unnecessary."

Byakko's face went from begging to terrified. "That stance...no...PLEASE SEIRYUU I BEG YOU DON'T!" He screamed pleading the demon to stop whatever it was he was going to do before it began.

"ZERO DEGREE ICE DRAGON!" he yelled and they almost couldn't see it but Seiryuu fired countless punches that froze Byakko upon contact. Seiryuu then aimed a kick at Byakko's body shattering it into millions of small fragments from the impact and the tiger demon's decapitated head rolled toward the group. He spat at the head.

"What the..." Yusuke muttered while in awe began to boil with anger at the demon's actions. "YOU BASTARD HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!" He yelled out.

Seiryuu merely scoffed at the detective's words. "You're strange. He was you're enemy and yet you're defending him."

"THAT GUY WAS YOUR COMRADE!" Kuwabara yelled as well angered that he could kill his teammate just like that.

Nobunaga's eyes narrowed dangerously almost into slits. It was one thing to kill but no one deserved to be disgraced like that. Not even Byakko.

"The fool was merely a pawn. I hit him with hundreds of jabs at zero degrees in a split second freezing him on impact. Only master Suzaku is strong enough to endure this move. I wonder though...How long will it take for me to freeze you all and kill you..." His eyes trailed to Nobunaga whose glare became even darker.

"We have no use for weakling among our ranks."

Nobunaga only flipped the bird at him in response. Kurama could hear Yoko growl about Nobunaga being his and marking him if he had to do it. Kurama though didn't listen and glared at the demon as well. "They have no sense of comradship at all."

Nobunaga tsked at the fox's response. "What do you expect? Loyalty has no place among them. Power, greed and hunger are the only things that keep them from tearing each other's throats out."

"THAT'S IT!" Yusuke yelled. "I'M GONNA DESTROY THIS BASTARD!" He was about to head toward the demon when Hiei stopped him.

"Wait." He said giving the ice demon a death glare that meant certain death. "Save your anger for the last of the beasts." He said and walked up to Seiryuu who merely laughed as he removed his cloak and covered the head of Byakko.

"The last of the beasts?" Yusuke questioned and Nobunaga gave him his answer.

"We're giving you the pleasure of taking down Suzaku. The one before him is mine to defeat understand?" He said and his eyes sparked with an chill that Yusuke had never seen in him before. This one said he would kill those who stood in the way.

"crystal clear..." Yusuke muttered and turned back to impending battle.

"And what do you think you're doing Hiei? Do you pity this pathetic excuse for a demon as well? I thought you to be like us. Walking the path of evil." Seiryuu taunted but Hiei let glaring and put a hand on his sword.

"Hiei is conflicted it seems." Kurama muttered.

"What do you mean Kurama?" Yusuke asked.

"There once was a time where Hiei would have done the same as Seiryuu. He follows a code with complex rules and it seems that Seiryuu has struck a cord within him. Hiei is emitting a great amount of spiritual energy early on. Truth be told this is the first time I have ever seen him do this." The fox explained.

Seiryuu surrounded himself with his icy aura and glared at Hiei. "You will regret ever battling me. ALLOW ME THE PLEASURE OF ENDING YOUR LIFE!" He yelled charging himself toward Hiei who merely fell back into a a defensive position.

The remaining four fell into shock as Hiei, in blinding speed, sliced Seiryuu into pieces before the ice demon could even touch him. "I never want to see your face again." He spat at the now dead demon.

"Wh-when did he start chopping!?" Kuwabara yelled out flabbergasted that the battle had ended that quickly."I didn't even see anything!"

Kurama chuckled at the human. "Don't worry Kuwabara. I only saw the flash of the blade myself. You're not alone."

Nobunaga didn't say anything. He'd seen at least 12 cuts. Kuwabara had been right. He'd hardly been able to keep up with the speed of Hiei's blade. He certainly lived up to his title of a swordsman.

"It's official! The shrimp's cooler than I have him credit for!" Kuwabara said.

"Damn! Hiei you won hands down!" Yusuke yelled going towards the demon.

"I have to agree Hiei. How many times did you actually cut into him though? I counted 12 before losing track." Nobunaga asked smirking.

"Sixteen." Hiei muttered

"Sixteen?! Man, I lost track after seven or eight!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"I only saw the flash of the blade." Kurama put in.

"I only saw him move and the battle was already over." Kuwabara muttered sulking a little.

"Damn you really are good at this!" Yusuke grinned at the sword wielding demon. "I'll really be finished if we fight another round again!" He said laughing.

"Maybe." Hiei only said and put his cloak back on and the head of Byakko disappeared.

"I though he was gonna say 'Of course you fool.'" Kuwabara muttered confused.

"Hiei...?" Yusuke asked.

"It looks like he's starting to get used to you." Nobunaga spoke pulling Yusuke out of his thoughts.

Kurama further explained Nobunaga's words. "Ever since he came here, Hiei has slowly begun to change. He's gradually beginning to like you." He finished smiling at the detective.

The third saint beast was defeated. Two more to go. Now the group would face the next one and finally learn the secret of Nobunaga.

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**Author's note:** Not much that changed here except for grammatical errors. On the other hand though I had to change the parts in chapters one and nine about the Tengu because I got some things mixed up. Tengu are avian- like spirits meaning that they appear to have bird-like features. They are also able to shape-shift into humans and other animals. Another thing I want to point out is that yes Nobunaga inherited shape-shifting from his mother who inherited it from one of her parents who was a Tengu. No this does not make either of them part Tengu as when a being practices witchcraft the energy of the magic is absorbed changing and remolding the energy. Though human-born and demon-born witches can meld it with human and demon energy, Energy from witchcraft is absorbed entirely into the that of Soul-born witches. Sorry but I felt I seriously needed to clarify that. See you all in chapter 10.

ja'ne- kitsune to tenshi-chan


	10. Nobunaga vs Omukade

I apologize for this not being up something is going on and it won't let me see it and when I go to see if it's working it only shows the other chapters. My apologizes. I'm trying to get this working. As for the names that reviewers gave me thank you for the suggestions. In further research I decided to use the name Omukade seeing as my original design for the OC Saint beast was originally a centipede (Meaning a poison element). Thank you everyone who reviewed and left a suggestion.

Ok guys enjoy chapter 10! Please remember to review

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Just my OC(s)

Chapter 10: Nobunaga vs Omukade:Nobunaga's secret revealed

After Hiei defeated Seiryuu the team was able to get out of the icy domain and they were now in a large hall hoping that it would get them out of the castle. Yusuke looked over at Nobunaga with uncertainty. He had said that he was going to face the next Saint Beast himself and the detective couldn't help but wonder what Nobunaga would do when it came down to fighting it.

Kurama stared long and hard at the back of the male. He knew that one way or another they would learn the truth of Nobunaga. He knew that he couldn't be far off in his assumption that this male before them was the fabled exile that so many demons had tried to track and hunt down.

As they kept walking down the corridor, they could feel a large draft coming through "You think that's the way out?" Yusuke said to no one in particular

"It may be possible." Kurama said "However do not let your guard down. Hiei may have been able to defeat Seiryuu but that doesn't mean the fourth beast will be as quick."

"Hey Urameshi" Kuwabara said walking next to the detective and made sure he was out of earshot of Nobunaga. "Do you think this guy can beat the next one? I mean it took forever to kill that cat one. Plus hamster legs over there made it look easy slicing that last one into chunks." He whispered and looked at Nobunaga in alarm to see if he heard him. The male kept his back turned though. Either he really couldn't hear him or he just tuned their conversation out.

Yusuke just rolled his eyes at the paranoid human. "Don't worry. I know Naga can handle it like Kurama and Hiei did." He chuckled when he heard said male growl at the offending nickname.

Kuwabara still looked skeptical so Kurama put in his two cents. "Worry not Kuwabara. Nobunaga has proven himself reliable. Though we have not seen his combat skills as of yet, I have a feeling that he will surprise us." The fox smiled reassuringly. Kuwabara just grumbled something under his breath and stayed silent.

The draft kept getting stronger and light could be seen from the end of the hall. "Well what are we waiting for?" yusuke questioned. "Let's get the hell out of here!" With that he ran toward the end. However, as fate would have it, the light did not lead out of the castle. Instead of leading outside it opened into another arena much like that of Kuwabara's first battle with Byakko. This time though walls encased with vines closed off into a dome shape with a gaping hole showing the sky of the demon plane. Yusuke peered down thinking he would see another drop but instead all he could see was a strange mist.

"Welcome..." a voice hissed out. The group looked around trying to find the source when something began to crawl up the other side of the arena. First a head with long black hair covering one side of its face creeped up. What came next however made Yusuke's face go pale and made Kuwabara sick to his stomach. A torso with six long arms rose along with a reddish black centipide's body finally emerged. The fourth Saint beast appeared to be some sort of centipede demon and it's eyes gazed at each one of them with hunger until it finally rested it's gaze on Nobunaga and licked it's lips with a long tongue.

"I welcome you to my humble abode." The insect demon crooned maliciously. "I am Omukade, the fourth Saint Beast." He chuckled. "I'm quite surprised that you made it this far. Hmph. That fool Seiryuu was much too easy on you, the fool." He growled and licked his lips again. "No matter though. I haven't had a decent meal in years. You will all do nicely." The demon slithered to the middle of the arena. "Now...Who will be the first sacrificial lamb..." All six of the demon's clawed hands were ready to dig into their flesh. His eyes landed on Nobunaga again and he pointed one of his hands at him. "You will fight me first." he grinned evily.

Nobunaga glared and walked into the arena. Suddenly Omukade lunged at him with all six clawed hands poised to strike. Nobunaga did not have time to dodge but was able to shift into black smoke effectively making the strike useless. This seemed to make the centipede smirk though as he recoiled back and watched as Nobunaga gained his solid form back. The demon almost immediately could see the mismatched eyes and began to cackle wildly.

"What the hell is so f**king funny insect..." He bit out.

The centipede grinned evily its fangs glinting. "Hehehe. It would appear as though I'm luckier than I thought to have chosen you as my first course...Exile..." He muttered causing Nobunaga's eyes to widen.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked confused. "Exile?" Yusuke muttered looking at Nobunaga who seemed to befrozen with shock.

Omukade,hearing this, began to cackle again. "You poor boy. It seems as though he has been keeping this from you. This creature on your team is none other than the 'Exile of Worlds'!" He turned to Nobunaga who seemed to have shaken off the shock and began to flare with anger. "When I smelled your scent I knew there was something odd about you. But looking at you now I can see that you are nearly the spitting image of your mother the Witch Queen. You truly will be the greatest meal I have eaten. But don't worry about your friends. They'll join you as soon as I'm done devouring that soul of yours!" He yelled lunging at the exile.

"NOBUNAGA!" Yusuke yelled as they saw blood splatter on Nobunaga. However it was the demon who screamed in pain holding his face. Kuwabara looked down and went pale.

"Are you seeing what I'm s-seeing..?" He mumbled pointing to something in the pool of blood that had collected under the two fighters.

Yusuke was the first to yell in shock. "IT'S A FREAKING EYEBALL!" He was right as Omukade looked up in rage and blood could be seen gushing out of what used to be his right eye as well as a long slash along the side of his face.

Soaked in the red substance was Nobunaga wielding what appeared to be a pair of knuckle blades. Each blade was long and curving into a point like the blade on a scythe. Kurama mentally estimated that both blades were at least three feet long.

The exile gave the centipede a long hard stare. Purple energy swarmed around him and white energy sparked. It was unlike anything that the members of the group had ever felt before. Not even the two demons allied with them had felt such power.

"If you think I'm going to let you have my soul...You are dead wrong..." Nobunaga muttered his eyes glowing blue and yellow respectively. With that the exile sped toward the demon who, in retaliation, began to strike at him once again.

The team watched as the battle raged on. Yusuke then spoke up. "Wait...what did he mean Nobunaga's an exile? Did he do something wrong?"

Kurama asked him a question. "Did Botan or Koenma ever bring this up to you?"

Yusuke thought for a moment. "Well...when we were set on getting the Forlorn Hope from you...That was the first time I met him. Botan looked freaked though and when he was talking to Koenma, it looked like Koenma was actually afraid of him."

Kurama remained silent for a moment and then spoke in a quiet voice. "Tell me Yusuke...What would you do if the Makai, and Reikai realms all wanted you erased from existence?"

Yusuke turned to the fox demon confused. "From existence...?" He muttered and turned back to Nobunaga who kept slashing at Omukade. His eyes were flashing in anger and what appeared to be a fiery hatred. "I don't know...Fight back I suppose."

"That is exactly what Nobunaga has been forced to do for most of his lifetime." Kurama said. At the confused looks from the humans he began to explain. "As you know, Nobunaga is neither human or demon. He is a class all his own. The son of a witch and a shinigami: literally a legend in the Makai and Reikai. Known as the 'Exile of Worlds' because he can never be accepted to live in any of the three worlds. He will never live in peace."

"A legend..." Yusuke muttered and them Kuwabara brought a question up. "Hey hold on. Why do they all wanna kill him though?"

"He is a creature that shouldn't be allowed to exist fool." Hiei spoke. "To demons his soul would give tremendous power if it is devoured. The Reikai wishes to exterminate him because of that."

Kurama cleared his throat. "What Hiei speaks of is true. Nobunaga will never be accepted by the Reikai because of his background. The Makai will only ever see him as a meal, and the Ningenkai will only ever see an outcast within him. For all his life he has had to fight for the right to live. It would explain why he was adamant on being secretive and why he threatened to kill me or Hiei if it ever came out."

"Because he's afraid you'll come after him too right?" Yusuke summed up. Kurama nodded. Yusuke turned back to the fight watching. _So all this time...he's had to fight just to see another day. Damn..._

"Yes it may also be that he has a truce with Koenma for now. The fact that he was so adamant on getting back the Forlorn Hope and that he is willing to assist us on this mission could explain that." Kurama fininshed and went back to watching the fight.

"It seems I truly underestimated your strength exile..." Omukade tsked. "I can't believe I have to resort to using **this!"**

Nobunaga raised an eyebrow as Omukade seemed to take a deep breath but quickly began to jump and cling to the nearest vine as he began to let out purple mist from his mouth. Nobunaga watched as the mist reached some of the lower vines immediately causing them to shrivel and rot until they were completely black.

"What the hell kind of power was that..." He muttered.

Omukade grinned in sadistic glee. "That was my 'winds of death' young exile. My body is filled with fluid that, if used, can kill practically any creature in one fell swoop."

Nobunaga grit his teeth and jumped off using the wall as leverage. He was about to strike when the demon struck at him with it's many claws that had now turned black. Nobunaga quickly looked at where the demon hit. He had managed to claw his shirt and sweater up but became alarmed when the fabric began to disintegrate itself.

Omukade cackled. "I can also control where my poison can secrete. Though I wasn't able to to attack you directly with it, it can always burn into your skin and melt it!"

Nobunaga took one of his blades and began to rip of the quickly burning clothing before it could make contact with his skin. All that was left on his upper body were his gloved hands which hadn't been touched by the poison. His bare torso revealed countless fading scars, all of which spoke of many hard fought battles in his fight to live his life.

Omukade 'hmphed' and black energy began to surround him. Nobunaga tensed and went into a defensive positiong with his knuckle blades infront of him in an 'x'. Omukade's upper body began to turn into a sickly green color and black marks began to appear on the skin. The group all watched in sick fascination as four long needle like bones began to protrude and extend out of the demon's back and dripped with the poison produced in his body. The drops that made contact with the arena floor sizzled creating small dents.

"BLEH!" Kuwabara made a disgruntled sound at the sight of the beast's new form. "That's some seriously creepy s**t!" He yelled out in disgust.

Yusuke just gave him a look but then shrugged. "Eh. Actually that time when Hiei 'reverted' was just as bad." he muttered thinking back to his first battle with the small fire demon.

Kurama held back a chuckle as Hiei glared at the back of the detective. Kuwabara though looked completely and utterly lost as he began to question Yusuke about his statement.

Omukade grinned evily at the exile and spoke bringing the others back to the fight. "How do you like my true form exile? Hehe. Once I am in this form there will no longer be any use fighting me. Only Master Suzaku has been able to survive fighting me in this form. You on the other hand will not be as lucky. YOU'RE SOUL WILL BE MINE!" he screamed and began to pull the needles out of his skin as more took their place. Omukade began to thrust them at Nobunaga who kept dodging or striking at them.

"It's no use exile! You won't be able to avoid them for much longer! None of you will ever see daylight again!" Omukade seemed to go insane with lust for the exile's soul.

Nobunaga grit his teeth as needle after needle was thrust at him. He began to get angry. At those who wanted to kill him. At the demons who wanted to devour him. In his anger his fangs elongated and his fingers became claws. He gripped his blades so tightly that his fingers were starting to bleed. It was time to stop hiding once and for all. Nobunaga thought back to his days with the Tongu tribe. The only ones other than his family to have ever treated him as an equal. Not as a monster but as a true equal to their powers. His thoughts drifted to Yusuke and the others. The detective and Kurama, though they had not known he was an exile at the time, treated him as an equal as well. He knew that after this there was a great possibility that he would lose this respect. _What the f**k..._Nobunaga thought to himself straightening himself out. He could hear Yusuke yelling something at him and he looked up seeing Omukade lunging after him thinking that he had given up. Nobunaga's lips curled into a cruel smirk._ To hell with hiding. I'll give them something to never forget._ Time to use what the Tongu had taught him.

Time to show his true colors.

Yusuke yelled at Nobunaga. "FOR F**K'S SAKE GET OUT OF THE WAY HE'S GOING TO KILL YOU!" He and the others watched in horror as the demon lunged at him but were shocked to see that there was no sign of the exile.

"Where did he go?" Kurama muttered looking for any signs of the male.

They were given one as Nobunaga, in a flash, landed back on the floor his feet making a soft thump. Omukade saw this and snarled but stopped as Nobunaga began to laugh.

"Have you finally gone mad exile? Hehe the fear of being killed must have finally gotten to y-AHHHGHHHH!" Omukade cut himself off with a pain filled scream as he saw one of his arms fall off in a bloody heap. He turned in horror to see Nobunaga lift his head up and his lips were twisted into a cruel smirk.

"You said it yourself" he said preparing his blades for battle. "One of us will die here." His smirk twisted into a twisted grin. "YOU WILL BE THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB!" He yelled pointing at the demon with a blade in hand.

Omukade's face twisted into one of rage again. "DIE!" He began to inhale again. "WINDS OF DEATH!" The demon released another cloud of miasma toward the exile.

Nobunaga knelt on one knee and clasped his hands together chanting: 1

Lord of winds

Heed my command

Heir of breath

Both strong and swift

Protect thy lord

With thy shield of war

As the miasma cloud began to surround the arena and began to reach toward the others, a powerful gust of wind began to blow it out through the hole to the sky. As the others tried to peer through the powerful gust they could make out Omukade fighting against the current and to their amazement Nobunaga was still kneeling the wind surrounding him like a shield against Omukade's attacks.

Just as quick as the wind came it stopped. Omukade was unshaken though as he immediately grabbed five of his needles and launched himself toward Nobunaga wielding them like swords. Nobunaga though began to dodge each one with ease. He had been holding back his power all this time. Omukade was quickly beginning to realize that and pushed himself even harder. It was in vain though as Nobunaga, with a animalistic growl set upon him and slashed at him violenty. Blood sprayed everywhere as the exile began to tear through the insect.

The others watched in horrified fascination. Yusuke was the first to speak after a few moments of silence. "Holy s**t..." he was unable to say anything else.

Kuwabara on the other hand had something else to say. "THE GUY'S A FREAKING MONSTER!" He yelled out terrified as more blood was spilled.

Kurama and Hiei were studying Nobunaga's movements and nearly flinched at the animal-like growl that ripped from the exile's throat. Nearly.

Hiei scoffed "He's like a wild animal. He has no class does he..." He stated

Kurama looked at his friend and sighed. "That is not the case Hiei. Nobunaga's style of fighting calls for no mercy. He will spill blood if it necessary in defense. As he said before he could have been able to tear you apart before but he had more self-control.

_His mind is clouded by rage Suichi._ Yoko spoke in his mind. _He is done holding himself back for so long._

_**It is wild, bloody, and violent. It would appear that these are Nobunaga's true colors when fighting. Still...to think that he truly is the Exile of Worlds...It's extrordinary... Knowing that he is the exile...Does it make you see him as a meal now Yoko...**_ Kurama spat out in slight anger. If Yoko wanted to devour Nobunaga then he would fight against the locked bandit. Being the exile did not change Kurama's perspective of Nobunaga. He was still a member of this team and would continue to treat him as an equal. Nobunaga would probably be more wary of him and Hiei now that they knew his secret but he would still be treated the same.

_Don't be a fool Suichi_ ...Yoko's deep voice rumbled in annoyance. _My answer still remains unchanged. Exile or not, I will make that boy mine. I know you wish to make him yours as well._

Kurama was about to make a rebuttal but Yoko cut him off. _It may not be in your mind now but I can sense it deep within you. Like me, you wish to mark him...to show that he is yours and yours alone. You crave his touch, his voice, and his heart._

Kurama immediately shut the bandit out before he could finish. He could not afford to have those feelings as of now. The fox glanced towards Nobunaga and looked at the condition of the centipede.

In the heat of the battle, Omukade had lost all but one final arm. His torso was bleeding profusely and his tail looked as if it had been shredded. The smell of blood was almost too much to bear. The demon however still stood. Like Byakko, it was taking a lot to kill him.

"You don't know when to quit do you..." Nobunaga spat out. Omukade let out a growl.

"It doesn't matter if you kill me exile. None of you will withstand the power of Suzaku." With that the insect began to cackle madly. "As for you exile... even if you survive you will never have peace! You will always be hunted! You will always be considered a monster!"

Nobunaga looked down and clenched his hands. He turned towards the others. "Get the hell back..." He said.

"Wait what the hell are you gonna-" Yusuke was asking but Nobunaga yelled.

"I SAID GET THE HELL BACK!" When the group was far enough he turned to the demon. "At least I can eliminate one more predator then right?" He spat out. Nobunaga's blades dissipated into his dark purple energy and he began to chant again:2

Chains of woe

Bind and trap

Cage the creature in aura black

Chains of Fantasia

Who can never break

Trap the punished

In destruction's wake

Black chains appeared around Omukade. The centipede tried to move but the chains were so heavy that they pinned him completely. The demon looked up at the exile. He didn't see a meal anymore. He was seeing his executioner.

Nobunaga closed his eyes and red began to surround him. The exile took a deep breath and and the centipede could see flames and smoke in his throat.

"DRAGON'S INFERNO!" 3 Nobunaga breathed out an eruption of blue flames directly toward Omukade. The demon could be heard screaming as the flames burned him. After what seemed like an eternity the flames finally stopped and Nobunaga plopped onto the ground breathing out a cloud of smoke. The others can out and assessed the damage. Omukade was reduced to a pile of bones and bits of blackened flesh still bubbling from the intensity of the flames.

"Ew..."Yusuke muttered looking at the remains. He turned to Nobunaga who was still sitting on the ground and had to take a double take. The exile was completely drenched in blood. His hair was still dripping with it, it ran down his torso and there were blood splatters all over his pants.

Kuwabara made a cross with his fingers at him. "STAY BACK MONSTER! I'M WARNING YOU!"

Nobunaga just looked at him. "Believe me Kuwabara if I had wanted to kill you don't you think I would have done so already?" He just rolled his eyes as he layed on the heavy sarcasm.

It was quiet before a hand appeared before Nobunaga. He looked up seeing it belonged to Kurama who silently urged him to take it. Hesitantly Nobunaga grabbed it and lifted himself up and quickly took his hand back. He watched both demons with cautious eyes.

"Damn...You really did do a number on that guy..." Yusuke said. Then he smiled and walked up to him. "Geez Naga! You look like you went on a murder spree!"

Nobunaga looked at him as if he was crazy. "I just slaughtered a demon right in front of your eyes and I'm drenched in blood. Yet you're laughing?!" He almost yelled. "How the f**king hell is it that you're not cowering?!" He gestured towards him.

Yusuke only smiled. "Well you did say you were going to take care of him. Plus Kurama may have told me some stuff. Yusuke's smile dropped a little. "So...the 'Exile of Worlds' huh? You never did answer my question. Why did you need it back?"

Nobunaga huffed and took a deep breath. "My mother and father were executed by the spirit world. My mother because she was a wanted enemy. My father because he betrayed them. I wandered around the realms for centuries until some shinigami finally found me and tried to kill me on the spot. I killed them to get away and yet I was still captured. I was brought to trialed by Koenma but instead of sentencing me to death he made a deal with me. They wanted the Forlorn Hope seeing as it was a powerful item that in the wrong hands could destroy the realms. If I brought it to them it meant that they could trust me and I would be left alone." Then he turned to Kurama and Hiei.

"However because the vault was easily broken into I took it back because I knew that it would be safer with me. Koenma warned me that it would spell disaster for myself and told me I would still be free if I worked with you detective. I have shown distain towards you everytime and I have angered you on occassion. Yet you always brush it off." He raised an eyebrow at Yusuke. "Why?"

Yusuke looked at him and put a hand on his blood covered shoulder. "I said it once and I'll say it again. You're not a monster. To us at least."

Nobunaga remained quiet and looked at the demons from the corner of his eyes. Kurama smiled gently and nodded agreeing with Yusuke. Hiei just remained passive but nodded his head slightly. Kuwabara just looked at him and hmphed.

"Gotta hand to ya...that flamethrower thing you did was pretty cool." He uttered

Nobunaga's lips twitched upwards slightly. "Thanks." He whispered.

"All right! Four down one more to go!" Yusuke said. With that the group headed toward the final battle. To Suzaku and to save the city.

A/N: Oh my god! Finally done with this! I'm sorry this took so long to write but I'm also babysitting my brother and I can't be on my computer a lot of times. So anyway there were some things I wanted to talk about with the spells that Nobunaga was using.

1: I call that spell-'Shield of Kazegami'. I got the idea from the game Okami where the gods powers you use are somewhat based of the elements. I also got the idea from kingdom hearts where you can use the aero shield.

2: Chains of Fantasia (Fan-tay-shia)- That's actually an idea I got from watching an episode of the pre-shippuden of Naruto where they try to rescue Sasuke from the sound ninja four. One of them a girl uses a genjustu where the victim is wrapped in chains and watches their body melt and experience pain. For this spell though I wanted it to be a trapping one.

3: Dragon's Inferno- It was just a move that I came up with after playing Bravely Default and seeing some of the spells.

And that's all folks! See you all in the next chapter!

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	11. Yusuke vs Suzaku: The Final Battle

This is chapter 11 of 'The Exile'. Those of you who have reviewed I thank you but I also ask that you have patience when it comes to me continuing the story. I implore not just you but every one who reads my stories to give me time. I have other things to do as well. I also encourage you to ask me questions as well if need be.

In other news I also have an announcement: While I will still continue to write my stories I must also say that it will take me time to write them. The reason being that college is starting up again and, depending on how my classes are, it will take time for me to complete chapters. All that I ask is that you guys give me some space so that I may write them out. I understand that you guys really like this story and believe me I'm estatic about that. I just want you to understand that these chapters don't happen overnight. They do take me a lot of reasearch and some time to do.

Disclaimer: Once again I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I only own my OC(s). Also I do not any of Nobunaga's summonings I got the ideas from games and myths.

* * *

Chapter 11: Yusuke vs Suzaku: The final battle

Yusuke sighed with relief as they made it out finally. They were still at the castle but standing outside.

"Ugh... Finally out of that hellhole." He said with relief.

"You're telling us." Nobunaga agreed wringing out some of the blood that hadn't dried in his hair. He began to scratch the side of his head and grimanced as he saw clumps of dried up blood fall. He really needed a long bath after this was over.

Yusuke was about to retort but then his communicator rang. Picking it up, he could see Botan on the other line.

"Hey Botan! We're close to destroying the whistle. One more beast to go. How are things on you're end?" Yusuke questioned and Botan began to get extremely nervous.

"About that Yusuke...Keiko is with me and we're trapped at your school..." She said and that began to set Yusuke off.

"WAIT WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU GUYS ARE TRAPPED?!" He yelled into the communicator. He paused and flipped out again. "WAIT KEIKO'S WITH YOU!?"

"It seems the bugs infected the teachers here and for some reason they're only going after the two of us. I'm trying to keep them away for as long as I can but-" Botan was cut off by Keiko yelling 'look out!' and Yusuke could see a teacher try to attack Botan. They loss signal.

"Wait Botan! Botan can you hear me?!" Yusuke yelled and cursed when nothing happened. "S**T!"

Nobunaga began to ponder for a moment. "Why the hell are they only going the two of them? The bugs take control over those who have twisted hearts, but to infect the entire staff at your school..."

"I'm afraid that is just it." Kurama muttered and Nobunaga looked up seeing the tower on the other side where they were. Lightning struck wildly. The exile could only guess that was Suzaku's doing and then realized what Kurama meant by that. "S**t..." He cursed and turned to Yusuke. "Oi, we have to desttroy the whistle now! That's why they're going after them."

"Wait why?" Kuwabara asked.

Hiei humphed and explained. "Suzaku is getting desparate and it seems he decided to use the flute to take control over humans to go after the blue haired one and the detective's mate."

At this Yusuke was about to yell that he and Keiko were not like that but Nobunaga smacked the top of his head. "We don't have the time or the patience to deal with another one of your arguments." He said giving the detective a glare. "We have to destroy it now or the two of them are going to be killed!"

That had them running toward the tower. It wasn't until they got there that they faced another problem. The door to the tower was sealed and coming from the entryways on either side were cultivated humans ready to attack.

"There's too many of them!" Kuwabara yelled startled. ""If we try fighting them one-on-one we won't even make it to the door!"

"S**t...Naga can you fly us up to that window?" Yusuke pointed to the window and asked the exile who shook his head. "With this many of them coming it'll take too long for me to bring you all up one by one."

Hiei then spoke. "Then let's use another method." Yusuke turned to him. "You have an idea Hiei?"

The demon glanced at him. "Something like that." Hiei called to Nobunaga. "Exile, I need you to stall them for a bit."

Nobunaga gave him a look but nodded. "I have a name. Use it." He mumbled under his breath as he summoned his wings again and took flight to the hoarde coming toward them. As soon as he got into range he blew out a wave of fire burning many of them into piles of burnt flesh and bone.

While Nobunaga held back as many of the monsters as he could, the rest of the group put Hiei's plan into action. The plan was for Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei to form a ladder, run toward the tower, and then Yusuke would use this to get to the window.

The only one not ok with the plan was Kuwabara who grumbled about being on the bottom as he supported the weight of Kurama on his shoulders who had Hiei at the top.

"Kuwabara are you alright?" Kurama asked in concern. Kuwabara just grunted. "Lets just get this over with." With that Kuwabara made a mad dash towards the tower with Yusuke running behind. As soon as they got close enough to the tower, Yusuke jumped off of their backs like spring boards and managed to climb his way up. Yusuke turned to see that the undead were still making their way through. Kurama looked up calling out to him.

"Yusuke go! We'll stall them but please get going!" Kurama summoned his rose whip and began slashing those in his range to pieces. Hiei did the same with his blade and Kuwabara was using his fists since he was still rather low on spirit energy. In the distance the detective could see Nobunaga slashing and hacking the creatures to pieces.

As Yusuke made it up to the room in Suzaku's tower, He could see said demon in front of some kind of giant screen. On the screen were Keiko and Botan who were still running from the possessed teachers. Yusuke clenched his fists in anger.

Suzaku stood from his seat still playing the demonic flute and walked towards the detective.

"You bastard..." Yusuke snarled.

Suzaku chuckled. "A beautiful tone is it not? I thought it would make good as your woman's requiem. I am Suzaku, leader of the Five Saint Beasts."

"This is a rare opportunity." Suzaku said as he jabbed his thumb toward the screen. Keiko and Botan were being jumped by the possessed teachers and kept running looking for a place to hide. "Take a good long look as your girlfriend is hunted down." He laughed darkly as he saw the anger intensify on the detective's face.

"Hand over the flute now and I'll let you go only half beaten to death." Yusuke snarled.

"And if I say no?" The demon asked.

Yusuke grit his teeth. "I'll kill you!" With that in mind Yusuke lunged toward Suzaku launching a barrage of fists at the demon. Suzaku however, was able to block them with one hand as the other kept a tight hold on the demon flute. Suzaku jumped into the air where he stayed.

"Up there huh?" Yusuke muttered and prepared to fire his spirit gun. "Now you've got no where to go!" Yusuke fired it at the demon who deflected the ball of energy.

_No way... How could he have... _Yusuke thought as he watched the energy hit the ceiling and rubble rained down in the room.

Suzaku landed back on the ground. "That was an impressive display of power just now." He said. "It's been quite a long time since I have had my arm stunned so."

_That blast was fired using the steps I learned from Genkai's training...It shouldn't have been possible but he stopped it before he could take on any damage._ Yusuke thought angrily.

Suzaku smirked. "Allow me to return the favor." The demon lifted his hand up toward the hole the blast had made and lighting began to strike again. A bolt of lightning suddenly struck Suzaku and he was enveloped in the blinding light.

Yusuke gaped in shock. _He's absorbing the lightning!_ Suzaku formed a ball of energy in his hand and aimed it at Yusuke.

"SWIFT BOLT OF DARKNESS!" He charged at Yusuke. Yusuke jumped into the air but Suzaku did as well and aimed his arm at the detective. Even though Yusuke was able to dodge the ball itself, the sparks produced still caught him and he screamed in pain as he was being electrified.

Suzaku landed on the ground and turned to watch the detective fall to the floor. Yusuke felt as if he couldn't move.

_It only grazed me...But it felt like an entire bolt ran straight through me! _Yusuke struggled to get up as Suzaku leaned over him and smirked. "How interesting. You're the first human who's ever come into contact with that move and you lived. While I must commend you for that feat I'm afraid that even if you are able to rise you will fall to an even more certain death. You should take these last moments to see your woman." Suzaku smiled darkly at him enjoying the struggle.

Yusuke looked up at the demon and snarled. "Don't you dare look down on her...She's far from being weak. She's not some weakling who's going to lose her life in some s**tty story made by a mindless demon!"

Yusuke took off his shoes and shoved his hands into them. (A/N: I swear I have to laugh a little every time I see this part. It's kinda funny)

"And neither am I!" He declared getting into a fighting position. Suzaku began to cackle. "What kind of stunt are you trying to pull off! Ar eyou telling me that you think you can survive my attacks by insulating your hands with your flimsy shoes? That's like trying to defend yourself from a cannonball with paper!"

"Won't know until I try!" Yusuke said not moving. Suzaku smirked preparing another ball of energy. "Allow me to end you then!" And the demon went charging at him.

_Here it comes!_ Yusuke thought as he braced himself. "DIE!" The demon yelled as the ball made contact with Yusuke's shoe covered hands. The shoes lasted for a few seconds but were obliterated. However what Zuzaku hadn't been expecting was seeing the spirit gun in its wake.

"IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" Suzaku said as the energies clashed. Yusuke was then able to land a punch to Suzaku's jaw and sent him flying. The demon managed to get back on his feet before he could hit the ground. "Impressive...You contracted your energy into your fists and used it as a wall to deflect my attack. So the shoes were only a cover."

Yusuke smirked as he saw Keiko slap a teacher into submission to rescue Botan from being crushed. "I'm gonna have to change the ending to your story." He said smirking. His hand was glowing with his energy. "Starting now it's going to be me fighting back!"

Summoning his energy into his fist, Yusuke came charging at the demon. Suzaku barely dodged the fists before he was blocking another barrage of fists with his free hand. Suddenly one of the punches knocked the demon whistle from Suzaku's hands.

"No!" He yelled.

"It's mine!" Yusuke yelled as he lunged for the demonic instrument. Using his speed the lightning demon disappeared for a moment before striking Yusuke head on with his fist before the human could reach the whistle. Suzaku grabbed the whistle.

"Damn..." Yusuke muttered as he landed on the floor. He began wrestling Suzaku for the whistle. Yuske managed to grab Suzaku and charged for the wall. The back of the demon's head made contact with it and Suzaku brought up two of his fingers summoning lightning from the fingertips and jabbing them into Yusuke. The intense shock caused the detective to lose his grip.

"You're determination to get the flute is certainly incredible." Suzaku gestured to the screen as it flickered back to Botan and Keiko running. "Is the girl truly that dear to you?"

"None of your business!" Yusuke yelled running toward the demon again. He suddenly stopped as he saw the possessed running after the two girls with weapons in their hands. Suzaku smirked at the detective's expression.

"Judging by your face, it appears to be quite a lot." He turned to the screen. "It appears the event taking place in the human realm is reaching it's climax. Time to finish the cruel reality happening here in the demon world."

"You seem to have escaped the last pinch quite well. However do you think that you will be able to escape a second time?"

Yusuke held his ground and Suzaku brought his hands together concertrating. "Prepare to be horrified human!" Energy began to surround Suzaku and suddenly his image began to blur. Yusuke watched in shock as six images of Suzaku emerged.

_There's seven of him now!_ He thought as he looked at each one. They all looked the same. One of the clones spoke. "This spell is of the highest level of sorcery. Do you believe you can find out which one of us is the real Suzaku? Before you answer I will make this clear. Every Suzaku that you see before you- Is the real thing!"

* * *

*Meanwhile outside the tower*

Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara, and Nobunaga were doing the best they could to keep the creatures at bay. "DAMN IT!" Kuwabara yelled out. "There's too many of them to hit!"

"No s**t Sherlock!" Nobunaga yelled at him as he sliced a few in half.

"We need to figure something out soon. We must make a pathway to get to Yusuke."

Hiei was about to charge until Nobunaga stopped him. "I have an idea. You may want to take a couple of steps back though." He said bringing his hand to his mouth.

"Wait why?" Kuwabara asked. Unless the exile could clear a path in a few moments they wouldn't be able to get close.

"Don't want anyone to get charred." Nobunaga bit his fingers until they were steadily bleeding and bent down to draw an odd symbol on the ground. The figure of a man with a square around it. Nobunaga began to chant and his eyes narrowed as the creatures grew closer.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Kuwabara getting ready to fight again.

"Succendam usque ad cinerem! PROMETHEUS!" Nobunaga finished and fire soon erupted from the symbol. The others had to shield themselves from the intensity of the flames. Squinting they could see the flames begin to grow and take the shape of a giant.

Kuwabara was speechless pointing a shaking finger at the flame giant. Kurama and Hiei looked at it in wonder.

Nobunaga looked up at the giant. "Prometheus clear a path!" He commanded and the giant nodded throwing flames at the creatures surrounding the tower. Their numbers began to diminish and the group took that moment to run to the tower.

* * *

*Back to Yusuke*

The clones then fired arrows of energy toward Yusuke. The detective put his energy into his fists and somehow was able to deflect five of them but then he became distracted as one made impact with the ground. That was enough for an arrow to get to close to him. Yusuke could not dodge it and it pierced him causing immense pain as he was electrocuted.

"Amazing that you could deflect five of them. However one is enough to cause death." Suzaku said as he walked to the entrance of the room. "The other four will soon be killed and feasted upon by the lesser demons. Now it is time for me to make the Ningenkai into Hell with my own hands!"

H-hand over the demon flute." Yusuke said struggling to get up as Suzaku watched surprised. Yusuke repeated this sentence and Suzaku walked over to him punching him in the jaw. "Why!?" He yelled as the human landed to the ground. "I don't understand! Is the girl's life that precious!? More and more I look forward to her death."

Suzaku tried to force Yusuke to join him. He would make him a demon if he surrended his will to him. When Yusuke refused the other clones who had him in their grasp let out lightning causing the detective to scream in pain.

Suzaku smirked at the human's pain and gestured to the screen. "Watch in agony as your girl and friend suffer!" He said just as the teachers broke into the room. Seeing a scarf peeking out of the closet they grabbed the brooms next to it and began stabbing the doors.

Yusuke could only bend his head and shut his eyes tightly as tears escaped. His subconscious began to speak to him._ Dammit are you really going to take this you dumbass?!_ Yusuke thought back_ But Keiko-_ _Keiko Yukimura is not dead you idiot! Look up!_

Yusuke looked up to see the teachers pry the doors open only to find a scarf flutter out. They were bewildered and did not notice Keiko and Botan jump from behind the curtained window and attacked the teachers with brooms stunning them and then running out to the hall.

"What!?" Suzaku yelled as he watched the spectacle.

* * *

*Back with the others*

The others were on their way until they ran into another problem. More cultivated humans came down the stairs blocking their path. "S**t! There's more of them!?" Kuwabara yelled out before turning to Nobunaga.

"Oi! Get that giant of yours back out and fry em'!" He yelled but Nobunaga shook his head. "I can't! It's too narrow for Prometheus to get into and I'd be risking frying our asses into charcoal!" He looked on at the mass. "Besides I won't have time to even draw a symbol."

"Then there's no other way." Hiei said and the four began to hack their way through.

* * *

*With Yusuke*

Yusuke smirked at Suzaku furthering the demon's anger. "Wipe that smirk off your face!" He yelled aiming more lightning at the human. "Don't forget that your life is in my hands!"

_Dumbass! You just had to go and suffer even more! Remember you damn training!_ Yusuke thought back to his training with Genkai. The master had taught him about critical action in which if he concentrated his anger he would be able to boost his power. Yusuke did just that surprising the other clones.

"SUZAKU! FIGHT ME! He yelled releasing his energy. The blast managed to blind each Suzaku momentarily allowing him to be free of their grasp.

The clones were then about to unleash another attack but the power was too low. "No! I released too much of my energy!"

Yusuke used that opportunity to strike. "TAKE THIS!" He used his shotgun technique causing several points to pierce the clones and send them across the room. The Suzaku holding the flute dropped it causing it to roll a few feet away. Yusuke was going to get it but then his body wouldn't respond. "Crap...My body won't move how I want it..." Still he was able to crawl over to the flute. Just when it was going to be in his grasp a foot stomped on his hand. Yusuke cried out in pain and looked up to see Suzaku.

"Tch. That last move was frighteningly powerful. However it had a weakness. It just barely missed my vital point. A fatal mistake on your part." He released the hand and kicked Yusuke to the side. "Now you're out of luck. Prepare to meet death." He said getting into a fighting stance.

Yusuke got into a stance as well. "Look who's talking. You're out of power too."

Suzaku laughed. "You would like to think that wouldn't you? Once again you underestimate me human." Suzaku lifted his hand and Yusuke turned to see the remaining energy from the clones emerge, causing them to disappear, and go back to Suzaku. The energy caused the demon's wounds to heal making it look as if he had not even fought.

Yusuke grit his teeth in frustration. "It healed his injuries." Once again Suzaku split himself into seven and they prepared to attack Yusuke with their arrows again.

* * *

*Meanwhile*

Kuwabara, Nobunaga, Hiei, and Kurama were making their way up to the tower. They could actually feel the lightning emerging from Suzaku get stronger and stronger. "Damn...The whole tower's starting to shake now. C'mon hurry up or we won't be able to help Urameshi!" He called out to the other three.

"This will continue until one of them is dead." Hiei spoke. "We could've told you that." Nobunaga replied. They were then faced with the problem. The next bolt of lightning had caused the stairs in front of them to crumble away. Another sound was heard and they turned to see the stairs from behind crumble as well.

"...S**t.." Nobunaga cursed. "What do we do now?" Kuwabara questioned. The rest remained silent as Nobunaga put a barrier up to keep them from getting crushed by falling debris.

* * *

*Back to Yusuke*

"Now..." All seven of the clones spoke "PREPARE TO DIE!" they yelled and prepared to launch their attack. The arrows came flying at Yusuke who could only brace himself. Strangely though the arrows didn't pierce him. They knocked him to the ground but seemed to bounce off in the process. "What? How odd that my arrows didn't pierce through you." Suzaku questioned and then he noticed one of his antenna sparking. "One of my antenna is cracked. But how? The shell is even harder than diamond so damaging it shouldn't have been possible." He said to himself before remembering when Yusuke had used his spirit gun and he had deflected it.

"No matter. Even if I don't have precise control over my power it will still be enough to kill you!" the clones began another attack. "Don't worry about your precious girl though. You will be able to see each other in death!"

* * *

*Meanwhile*

Hiei thrust his sword into the stone above them and Kurama wrapped the end of his whip around it. "Come on and grab a hold of it." No sooner did they do that the stairs under their feet crumbled. Kuwabara gulped. "That was cutting it close..."

"Couldn't of said it better myself Kuwabara." Nobunaga said clinging to the part under Hiei. "Could you grab the vine and not my leg though..." He muttered feeling pain rush through it. In his fight with Omukade, the demon had cut his leg badly and it hurt to put pressure around it though he didn't complain. Now though the pain was excruciating as Kuwabara ended up grabbing his leg in stead of the vine. Kurama lifted himself up to the stone with the others following. Now they had to make it to Yusuke before it was too late.

* * *

*Back to Yusuke*

Yusuke struggled to get up but was unable. He looked up at the screen again. As they had been rounding a corner, Botan had been struck in the head by a lead pipe and was rendered unconscious as Keiko held onto her. The possessed surrounded them. _Dammit...Am I really out of energy? _One of the teachers was about to stab Keiko with a pair of scissors. Yusuke suddenly felt an energy spark through him. Just as the scissors were about to stab Keiko something blocked them.

Yusuke was now surrounding by bright light. The demon and his clones watched in shock. "That's impossible! Just before you had no energy left to even use...Energy...You're burning up your own lifeforce!"The demon yelled out astounded. "Are you seriously going to die and end this battle in a draw?" He turned to Keiko on the screen. "That girl put the idea in your head didn't she..."

Yusuke charged at the demon. Suzaku and his clones readied another wave of arrows and fired them at the detective. Yusuke however fought his way through the blast. The others finally made it to the room and were stunned to see the fight going on.

"T-that energy's coming from Urameshi!?" Kuwabara said flabbergasted. Even the two demons on their side were in shock. Nobunaga noticed something wrong though.

"Wait...something's different about his energy though..." he quickly realized why. "YOU DUMBASS THAT'S SUICIDE!"

Yusuke and the clones clashed together and the impact blinded the others. Suzaku, his clones, and the demon flute were all destroyed in the blast. As the smoke cleared the others could see the body of Suzaku (Bodies) and Yusuke lying on the other side.

"S**T!" Nobunaga yelled as they ran to the human.

"He's used up almost all of his life force." Kurama said grimly. "His heart is barely beating."

"Damn it all!" Kuwabara yelled out and kneeled in front of the human. "That's it! I'm giving him my energy."

Kurama looked at him as if he grew a second head. "That's like suicide! You barely have any spirit energy left yourself!"

Kuwabara glared at the fox demon. "Does it look like I care?! I'm the only one who can give him a spirit transfusion! Now let me do what I gotta do!" With that Kuwabara concentrated on giving Yusuke his energy. In the end Kuwabara fainted but it was safe to say that both he and Yusuke would live to see another day.

"It looks as if we'll have to carry them both home." Kurama said sighing but smiling fondly at the unconscious humans.

Hiei sighed "It's incomprehensible. To risk your own life for the sake of another."

"Yes but still...It is the very reason we won." Kurama said picking Yusuke up.

"Alright. Let's get these two bastards home. I'll open a portal and I'll meet you there in a bit." Nobunaga said taking his blood and drawing the symbol for the portal to appear. The portal lead to the human world.

"Where are you going?" Kurama asked the exile. Hiei, who had a hold of Kuwabara, looked at the exile as well.

"I have some things we can use to treat Yusuke. Kuwabara as well but he doesn't need them as much. With that the exile disappeared.

* * *

True to his word Nobunaga came back holding a small sack in his hands. Kurama was in the room with Yusuke treating his wounds with some herbs. Hiei had left some time ago leaving Kuwabara at his house.

Kurama turned to see the sack and that Nobunaga was still covered in blood.

"Alright let's see what we have to work with." The exile said sitting next to the fox. Opening the sack he pulled a vial with blue liquid.

"What's in that vial?" Kurama questioned. "It's a potion specially made to allow the body to produce spirit energy at a faster rate. This way Yusuke's body will be able to sustain itself a bit more. He'll still be out cold for a while though. Give or take three days." Nobunaga explained tilting the human's head and making him drink the potion.

"All right let's see how bad the rest of him is" He said as he began to grab a few jars out of the bag as well.

About two hours later they had Yusuke bandaged up. Nobunaga got up and went up to the roof ready to open a portal and go home. He made a thinking face but then it looked like he had an 'Ah-ha' moment.

"Oh yeah, before I forget" Nobunaga reached into the bag again and pulled out two small vials of the healing potion made from the Phoenix Down plant. "Here." He put them in Kurama's palm. When given a questioning glance by the fox he sighed. "I know that the Forlorn Hope grants wishes but use one of them in case your human mother gets sick again like last time. I just really don't want to see you in my home trying to steal the mirror again and have to kill you for it. Use them wisely."

Kurama seemed to be trying to hold back saying something but then finally spit it out. "When I awoke I was sure that I would have died even with Yusuke giving some of his life force to the mirror. Yet I could still feel that all of my life force was still there when I should have been weak. Did you have something to do with it?" His green eyes bore into Nobunaga's mismatched ones looking for an answer.

Nobunaga just huffed. "It isn't supposed to keep your life force in for very long. In the words of Yusuke, it's basically like a battery for recharging one's own energy. Even if you both had lived the mirror would have turn into a f**king bomb because it can't hold the energy for too long. I had to command it to take half so that I could give the energy back to you before I would wind up absorbing it." He explained but it looked as if Kurama still wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"Why?" Nobunaga just looked out to the city. "Have you ever seen a mother in agony because she lost her child? Have you ever seen anyone suffer over the loss of their loved one?" Given silence the exile continued. "When I saw you mother for the first time, I couldn't help but think of my own family and how they had been taken from me. I know that pain all too well and what it's like. You feel as if your whole world's crashed down around you. You feel empty and most of all you feel so much rage that you think your going to erupt. I just didn't want to see it again or see the suffering on her face if she saw her own son dead. You may have been trying to help but you didn't think of the concequences." He turned to Kurama and the fox almost flinched at the hard look the exile was giving him.

"Did you really think that she would be happier without you? Let me tell you something. Once something precious is taken from you, you can never get it back. You would have put your mother through pain much worse than any wound or illness can inflict. Yusuke was trying to tell you that when he gave his life force."

Kurama walked up to him until they were rather close. Nobunaga's eyes widened at the closed distance and took a step back. "Thank you. For what you did." Kurama said and he chuckled inwardly as Nobunaga's face turned pink and he tried to play off the embarrassment.

"Don't mention it. It's not like a really wanted to save you asses anyway. I just wanted the mirror back." He turned around and wrote the symbol for the portal again. Kurama could see a dark forest and a clouded sky through it. "I'll keep checking on the numbskull and I'll check on Kuwabara later but I'm taking a well deserved bath first."

"Oh? But I thought you'd be used to being bloody." Kurama teased. His voice came out a bit deeper than expected and there seemed to be a golden tint in his eyes. Nobunaga paid no mind to it though. Unbeknownst to him though Youko had decided to emerge and tease the exile a bit. Kurama was trying to gain control back but to no avail.

"I am" Nobunaga explained making the red head raise an eyebrow. "The blood's drying though and I'm getting really itchy. Plus I have to treat these before thy fester." He pointed to the gashes on his face and chest. With that the exile waved him goodbye and left.

Youko relinquished control and Kurama returned. _**Why in the world would you do that?! What were you trying to get at...**_he mentally yelled at the bandit

_I merely wished to see how he would react Shūichi. Though I thought I was going to get a reaction out of him at least. The blush on his face from before was rather interesting though. _The bandit's eyes glinted mischievously as a few interesting thoughts went through. Kurama on the other hand blushed at some of the ideas. _Youko I will not let you take advantage of Nobunaga in that state. For all we know he could just have been surprised at the closeness of our proximity._

Youko just tsked at his other self. _Such a negative claim coming from someone who wants him just as much as I do. _Youko chuckled at Kurama's blush but thankfully, for Kurama, he did not speak another word.

Things were back to the way the were. For now.

* * *

**Author's note**: Any way some things to know

1\. Succendam usque ad cinerem!- burn them to ashes (latin)

2\. Prometheus- According to Greek mythology Prometheus brought the humans fire against the wishes of the gods. For this I wanted it to be that as punishment the gods were said to have turned him into a fire giant and he was forced to walk the Earth for eternity in that form. I thought it was pretty cool.

Please remember to review and critique if you feel the need but remember no flames.

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	12. I hate dopplegangers

Everyone thank you for being patient with me. Thank you all who have reviewed. I'll just get on with the disclaimer so that you can get reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own my OC(s)

* * *

Chapter 12: I hate dopplegangers...

Yusuke woke up feeling as though his body was being held down by lead weights. His sight slowly focused on what was clearly his ceiling. His mind was still in a haze though. The last thing he remembered was beating Suzaku and blacking out after. Yusuke tried to turn his head and winced as he felt his muscles protest at the action.

"I'd be slow about it if I were you moron. That body of yours is still healing from that beating you got from Suzaku." A familiar voice caught his attention. His eyes locked on the form of Nobunaga sitting on his window sill looking at him amused. The exile for once was wearing color: A dark green slightly baggy v-neck, dark blue jeans, black sneakers, and a black hoodie on top left unzipped. The wounds on his face healed considerably and all that he could see left of them were the faint scarring across his left eye and on the bridge of his nose. Yusuke could smell something burned and noticed a small bit of ash coming from the air.

_He must've made a portal._ Yusuke summed up and winced as he slowly sat up. "Long time no see Naga." He said and smirked tiredly as the male rolled his eyes. "What no threat to rip my insides out?" He said wondering where the threat for the nickname was.

"Tch. I just don't feel like yelling at you right now." Nobunaga muttered putting a bag on the floor. Yusuke smiled. The man was starting to get used to it.

"So how long have I been out?" Yusuke asked lookiing at his bandages. "I feel like somebody sewed weights to my skin."

"About three days give or take. Kuwabara gave you a energy transfusion to save your skin after you killed Suzaku." Nobunaga saw Yusuke about to roar at the fact that Kuwabara had done something that stupid.

"Before you say anything know that you're the moron here." Nobunaga said giving the detective a harsh look. "You almost used up **all** of your life energy. Had Kuwabara not done what he did you'd be dead all over again. Both of you managed to make a pretty good recovery though. Kurama and Hiei brought you two back to your respective housings and I helped the fox treat the wounds."

"So what happened after?" Yusuke asked the exile. Nobunaga shrugged, "The Reikai was able to get rid of the remaining demon insects and closed that part of the demon world off. Kurama and Hiei went back to their respective lives. I went home to take a much needed bath."

Yusuke began to laugh a little and this irked Nobunaga. "It's not funny you ass! Seriously I had to stay in the tub for three f**king hours just to get the all the blood off!" At this Yusuke laughed hard at the image of the exile sitting in a bath tub scrubbing with a sour look on his face and Nobunaga just threw a sock he found under the bed at him.

Yusuke them stopped for a moment realizing something. "Wait what about Keiko and Botan? Are they alright?!" He asked panicking for a moment.

"They're fine. Botan's injury wasn't too bad and Keiko was shaken up but she's been fine. Kurama's been checking on her to make sure." Nobunaga explained rumaging through the bag.

"What's in the bag?" Yusuke was cut off by the sound of knocking. Nobunaga took a whiff through his nose and was assaulted by the scent of forest and then the scent of cigarette smoke.

"It's Kurama and Kuwabara." He said and got up answering the door coming back with the fox and other human in tow.

"Sup' Urameshi?" Kuwabara said grinning at the detective. He yelped though when Yusuke pounced on him and tried to beat him up.

"DAMMIT YOU IDIOT! IF YOU'RE LOW ON SPIRIT ENERGY DON'T KEEP USING IT!"

"GAH! HEY IF IT WASN'T FOR ME YOU'D BE DEAD!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME POUND YOU!"

Kurama and Nobunaga watched the scuffle with blank faces.

"Tch. Troublesome..." Nobunaga said plopping down to the floor, rumaging through the bag again and pulling out something wrapped in paper. Kurama sat next to him. The fox looked over and saw that the bag contained four large bottles of shampoo and conditioner as well as a few bars of soap.

"Why do you have those?" He questioned and Nobunaga just gave a huff. "...I ran out the other day when I was bathing. Just because I don't like humans doesn't mean that I don't like some things that they make..." Nobunaga said still focused on the object in his hands.

At this Kurama couldn't help the amused smile that spread on his face and chuckled lightly. Nobunaga was ticked off. "Shut up..." He unwrapped the paper in his hand revealing a curry bun and took a bite. Now that Kurama could get a better look at the bag he also noticed several curry buns in it too.

"I take it you're fond of curry?" Kurama couldn't help but lightly tease the exile and inwardly grinned wider when said male turned red with embarassment. "...I may or may not have developed a curry addiction when I went to India for the first time... Quit it you damn demon!" He raised his voice at Kurama who began to bite his thumb to hold his laughter in. He couldn't help it. Nobunaga's reactions were adorable and the image of exile's probable reaction to trying curry for the first time just added to it. Youko smirked inside his mind.

_So you believe me now when I say you're attracted to him as much as I am Shūichi...? _He taunted and mentally Kurama sighed in resignation.

_**Fine Youko. You were right. Perhaps I do hold feelings of affection for Nobunaga after all. However that does not mean that he may return the sentiment. You and I both know that he is not trusting towards demons of any kind. **_

_We will have to change that then won't we._

_**I have only just gained his trust as a comrade. Taking this too fast would cause him to lose what little amount of trust he currently possesses.**_

Kurama immediately stopped speaking with Youko and turned his attention back to the other three in the room. It was apparent by the massive welts on the heads of the two humans that Nobunaga grew sick of the fight and broke it apart himself.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Yusuke asked rubbing away the welt. "We wished to check on you and see how your wounds are fairing so far." Kurama said walking up to the detective and unwrapping some of the bandages.

"The good news is that your wounds are completely healed and it seems that all of your energy has come back. It's quite impressive really. Normally it would take several more days." Kurama explained smiling as he removed the bandages.

Nobunaga smirked. "The bad news is that the two of you are gonna be hella sore for a few weeks."

"Wait but I feel fine." Yusuke said and Kuwabara agreed saying he hadn't felt any pain either. Nobunaga rolled his eyes at their ignorance. "Bless the clueless... The only reason you two don't feel pain right now is because you're both still hyped up on those remedies that I've been treating you with. The human body isn't usually capable of taking beatings like you two did unless you do a lot of intense training. I guarantee that by tomorrow you two are going to be screaming in agony and I will laugh at your pain." He said getting up and walking to the door.

"Where are you goin'?" Kuwabara asked him and Nobunaga gave a shrug. "Going to see a friend of mine." And he left.

"...Wait that guy actually has friends?..." Kuwabara was met with a punch to the face courtesy of Yusuke.

It turned out that Nobunaga was going to Ikebukuro again to play the smash brothers fight Celty owed him. He spent the rest of the day there trying to keep one upping her though she kept beating him every now and then.

He doesn't dislike some things humans make indeed.

* * *

*Two days later*

"DAMMIT THAT F**KING HURTS!" Yusuke yelled out. Unfortunately for him and Kuwabara Nobunaga had been right about the pain that they were feeling. Right now said exile had followed them to see how they were doing and, true to his word, was currently laughing to the point the two humans thought he might as well die from how hard he was cracking up.

DAMMIT NAGA STOP LAUGHING! IT'S NOT FUNNY AT ALL YOU BASTARD!" Yusuke yelled at him groaning at every step he took. Each time they took a step their bones and muscles would snap, crack, and pop from the strain. It hurt to the point that they were using walking sticks just to make it without collapsing. Nobunaga was still too busy laughing. Kuwabara yelled this time.

"DAMMIT JUST SHUT UP!" He yelled and soon Nobunaga stopped much to their relief. "Hah... I told you both that you'd be in massive pain." He said wiping a laughter induced tear from his eye. Yusuke grumbled at him and soon the three of them saw the school up ahead. Nobunaga slunk away to give the two of them some peace.

Nobunaga sat alone in a tree looking up at the sky. The two idiots were in school so he couldn't bother them, Kurama was the same, and there was no way that the exile was going to resort to looking for the fire demon. Sighing the boy was about to head home when he sensed demon energy nearby. Two to be exact and a whole lot of human energy. Curious, Nobunaga masked his presence and transformed into a black cat. His eyes remained the same though the pupils were now slit like an actual feline's. Quickly but quietly he made his way toward the area and soon came across a large construction site. Nobunaga's nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell of oil but drew his attention toward a group of humans who were standing angrily in front of two figures. Upon closer inspection Nobunaga nearly slipped when he saw two demons who seemed to have tried to disguise themselves as Yusuke and Kuwabara. Though to be honest the two did a horrible job going about it. Other than the hair there was nothing that made these imposters look remotely like them. The one who was supposed to be Yusuke had a forked tongue for pete's sake and the one who was supposed to be Kuwabara was rather ugly looking with an odd nose.

From what Nobunaga was able to hear in the conversation with the leader of the humans there it appeared that the two demons were trying to get their kind to come into the human world themselves and rule. "Tch." Nobunaga tsked as the humans began to get mad when the demons said that they would take their territory. _Sometimes I can't tell who's stranger: Humans or Demons._ The two 'dopplegangers' left and the human leader yelled at his comrades. It seemed that they were going to try and take down the real Kuwabara and Yusuke.

Nobunaga sighed and trotted away shaking his head. Normally he wouldn't meddle in the affairs of humans. He down right held a grudge against their ignorance and lust for power and greed. However in the short time he had known Yusuke and Kuwabara, Nobunaga was slowly but surely beginning to see that not all humans were bad. He would say the same about some demons but Kurama could be considered a special case and Hiei was only sentenced to help them in the human world even though he was beginning to warm up to them slightly.

On the other hand, the two humans were still quite physically exhausted from their battles in Maze castle. Handling another fight, even if it was against other humans, could cause further damage and it would take them twice as long to heal even with Kurama and Nobunaga's help. That, and he didn't want to hear it from Koenma. Shifting back into his normal appearance, the exile quickly made his way back toward Sarayashiki Junior High School. Sensing the spiritual presence of the two on the roof he would have gone but bit his lip in annoyance as he felt the weak presence of three other humans. He was going to have to shift again in order to keep any suspicion out. Shifting into a crow he made his way up to the roof and waited for the three normal humans to leave. Kuwabara seemed to have noticed that he was there though because he looked up for a second raising an eyebrow and Yusuke followed suit. However their attention was dragged back by one of the humans who told them about the very dopplegangers who had been messing with the group of humans from earlier. Apparently it wasn't just that group though. The lookalikes had been messing with several school gangs in the area and it appeared that all of them were hell bent on destroying the real ones.

Nobunaga watched as the two humans got riled up and announced that they would get them first though they immediately regretted standing up feeling the pain come back tenfold this time. Nobunaga almost let out a snort but kept himself in check. As soon as the three left Yusuke looked up to the exile. "Oi Naga you can come down now."

Chuckling the exile fluttered down and shifted back. "Looks like your friends beat me to it."

Kuwabara raised an eyebrow. "Wait you were gonna warn us about the fight?"

Nobunaga gave a nod and began to explain. "Yeah. On closer inspection it turns out that it's a pair of demons who disguised themselves as you, quite badly I might add. They're trying to get their kind into the human world themselves and see if they can take over."

Yusuke looked wide eyed. "Wait so that's why they have all the gangs coming after us? But why would they send other humans? On that note I don't even think they'd need to get past us."

Nobunaga rolled his eyes and tapped his index finger against the detective's head. "To avoid suspicion dumbass. They probably heard about what went on at Maze Castle and think of you two as a threat. They probably only heard about that and not the rest us or else they would be trying to coming after Hiei, Kurama, and myself as well. If you think they're going to get other demons to do it then I think your head is screwed in the wrong way. These demons are riling human gangs up so that they can do the dirty work for them. They get you two out of the way, then they think they can enter the demon world no problem. Understand?"

Yusuke gave him an annoyed look. "Alright geez. Don't get a pole stuck up your ass. Now let's go kick some ass!" He said getting up but once again groaned as his muscles screamed in pain.

Nobunaga gave them both dry looks. "I seriously doubt that, given your condition, you dumbasses would even be able to walk let alone fight. It might be best if we just try to confront the demons before those humans show up to beat your souls outta you."

* * *

After much moaning from pain and some help from Nobunaga the trio was able to make it down to the construction site where the two imposters were hiding. The trio looked down at them from a nearby half finished building and the two humans looked on in annoyance.

"Are you f**king kidding me?! They don't even look like us... And what the hell is up with the tongue!?" Yusuke whisper shouted seeing the failed excuses for imposters.

"What the hell is with the ugly guy?" Kuwabara muttered looking at his imposter with disgust. Nobunaga smirked deciding to poke fun and tease the easy to anger human. "I don't know Kuwabara...I think it's pretty spot on." He said chuckling and Yusuke joined in laughing at his friend's expense. Kuwabara looked like he wanted to shout. "Go jump off a bridge..." He muttered but it only caused Nobunaga to snicker more.

Soon though he was able to calm down and began to explain a plan he had in mind. "All right it'll be best if you two confront them."

"Wait you're not gonna come with us?" Yusuke questioned.

"I'm going to watch out for any signs of those gangs that want you're hides. Besides even if they might be weak, those demons might get suspicious if there's a third person involved." Nobunaga explained hopping up a few trees up ahead. The exile could overhear the two of them confronting their imposters. Nobunaga could see a large group of humans holding weapons and stalking towards the construction site in anger. As he watched them get closer he felt an annoyingly familiar presence behind him.

"Hiei..." He stated.

"Exile..." The fire demon responded.

"So what brings you here?" Nobunaga said turning to face the fire demon.

Hiei merely brought out a video tape to show him and Nobunaga was surprised to see a flicker of intense rage in his eyes. He wondered who decided to mess with the demon.

Hiei saw the hoarde of humans and sensed the two imposters. "I take it the detective and the fool have gotten themselves into a mess."

Nobunaga shook his head. "Surprisingly they didn't get themselves into it. Seems as though a few demons heard about our little escapade at Maze Castle. Long story short they want to get rid of Yusuke and Kuwabara, get their comrades into the human world, and rule."

"Hmph. Well that will have to wait. I have business with the detective that I need to take care of." Hiei huffed and Nobunaga knew that meant that he was reluctantly going to give them a hand. _Now that I think about it_ Nobunaga thought _wherever Hiei is Kurama's bound to be nearby so I guess that..._

"Then it would be in our best interest to put this misconception to rest." A familiar voice rang out from below them and the two supernatural beings looked down to see Kurama gently smiling at the two of them.

"Speak of the fox and he shall appear." Nobunaga muttered blankly. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"I saw Hiei come nearby and sensed the energy of other demons around this area. Seeing as there are a large amount of humans congregating around here I suppose that they are trying to be rid of Yusuke and Kuwabara."

"You guessed right." Nobunaga said as he watched the humans. Out of the corner of his eye he could make out what appeared to be another group of demons. "Say Hiei, he said getting the attention of the fire demon. What do you say to a little contest? Who can destroy them the fastest?" He said eyes turning toward the hoarde in hiding and smirked wickedly.

Hiei smirked at the man. "Then prepare to lose what you've begun exile." With that the two sped of so fast that Kurama hadn't had been able to see them move. The fox sighed to himself exasperated. It looked like he would be playing the voice of reason. Again.

* * *

Yusuke and Kuwabara were arguing with the leaders of the gangs but to no avail. The humans stubbornly refused to believe that they had been tricked by a pair of imposters.

"DAMMIT I KEEP TELLING YOU IDIOTS! WE'RE NOT THE ONES THAT SET YOU UP!" Yusuke yelled fed up with them.

"HE'S RIGHT JUST LISTEN FOR F**K'S SAKE!" Kuwabara yelled out but was only met with more yelling.

The gang leaders began to lung at them, their members following suit. Yusuke had enough. "THAT'S IT! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH PAIN I'M IN! I'M KICKING ALL YOUR ASSES!"

He and Kuwabara were about to brawl when a rose was thrown out in front of them and the leaders.

"Please wait a moment." A voice said and they all turned to see Kurama with his arm still stretched out from throwing the rose.

One of the leaders got angry and spat "What the hell do you want kid..."

Kurama merely smiled. "You have all been tricked." He said and then pointed towards the imposters who were trying to slink away quietly. "The real menaces are over there." The demons stiffened and were greeted by the enraged faces of the humans.

The one disguised as Yusuke suddenly spoke. "So what if you all have weapons! We have our bretheren behind us following our whims!" The Kuwabara imposter yelled "Destroy them!" But no one came.

"So who got to them the fastest?" Everyone could hear a voice ring out from behind the two and the imposters slowly turned to the sight of their followers in a giant pile beaten, broken, and bruised. Standing in front were Nobunaga and Hiei looking at the mess they had created.

"They didn't put up much of a fight." Hiei said to the frightened demons and Nobunaga smirked. "No they did not. It looks like these two won't either."

The imposters were surrounded by the gangs. "So you thought you'd get a kick watching us make fools of ourselves..." One of them snarled. They went for the kill.

"GAHHHHHHHHH!" The sound of screaming was all that could be heard.

* * *

"Whew!" Yusuke let out a breath of relief. "Thanks I don't think we would have been able to fight off that many people."

Hiei handed him the tape. "Huh? What's this?" He asked.

"You're next mission." Hiei simply replied and left.

"WHAT!?" YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!?" He yelled and turned to Nobunaga. "Naga please tell me you have some of those potions on you!" He pleaded.

"Sorry Yusuke you're on your own." He and Kurama left the two humans who began to wallow.

Kurama walked with Nobunaga. They weren't really heading anywhere. School had ended early for the demon so he decided to stay around the exile a bit more for now.

"Who won your contest?" He questioned remembering Nobunaga and Hiei make a contest out of who could knock out those demons the quickest.

Nobunaga stopped in his tracks and had a thinking face on. "No idea. I was focused on my own part so I couldn't really tell who beat who." he said shrugging to himself. "Although I do wonder who decided to piss Hiei off to be honest." Nobunaga wondered outloud peaking Kurama's interest.

"Hiei was angry?" Kurama questioned. Seeing the fire demon with a sardonic expression was normal but to see him with an actual look of fury was rather surprising.

"No not angry. When I mean he was pissed, I mean he looked like he wanted to decapitate someone and keep their head as a trophy." Nobunaga explained remembering the demon's look of unadulterated anger.

"Hmmm...That is quite interesting. You have my curiousity peaked now Nobunaga." Kurama said thinking outloud to himself.

"Then it's a good thing that we may need you for Yusuke's next mission." A familiar girl's voice piped up above them.

The fox and exile looked up in surprise to see Botan floating above them with a look of seriousness on her face.

"Botan." Nobunaga greeted the river styx.

"Please be more specific Botan." Kurama asked.

"I'll explain on the way but let's just say that Koenma wants you both to come as back up and also to make sure that Hiei doesn't do anything rash." She explained urging them to follow her.

Kurama and Nobunaga looked at each other. Whatever it was it had to be serious. Especially if it involved restraining Hiei from doing something foolish.

* * *

**Author's note:** Ok I have to stop here. I'm just glad that I managed to get this done. Finally! Well the next chapter is going to be about finding and rescuing Yukina and Celty will also make an appearance as well. Hope to see you guys in the next chapter!

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	13. Saving the Ice maiden and a challenge

Ok first of guys Happy New Year! Second, I'm sorry about not updating but when you have your family over a lot over the course of winter break and keep playing very addicting video games you kinda forget to update. Any way here is the long awaited chapter 13!

I do not own YuYu Hakusho. Only my OCs.

Chapter 13: Saving an Ice maiden and a new challenge

* * *

As Kurama and Nobunaga made their way to the destination where Yusuke's assignment was supposed to take place, Botan filled them in on why they had to keep Hiei from interfering with the mission. She told them that Yusuke had to rescue an Ice maiden by the name of Yukina who had been trapped by a greedy human known as Konzo Tarukane. At this Nobunaga came to a screeching halt and looked at Botan bewildered.

"Hold it. How in the hell did a human of all things imprison an ice maiden?" He frowned and crossed his arms. "Even if he had help from demons, the maidens are pretty hard to get to considering where they live."

Kurama looked at him curiously. "You speak as if you have been near them before Nobunaga." He inquired.

Nobunaga nodded. "I have actually. A few times my mother brought me with her across the demon realm when I was a lot younger so that I could get a feel of what I would be up against when I grew old enough to harness my powers to an extent. We came across the ice maidens' territory by accident." Nobunaga explained remembering the moment. "Even if you were powerful enough to withstand the higher ranges of the land there, you would still need to be strong enough to handle the temperature and altitude. They live on some of the highest floating isles in the demon realm so getting to them isn't easy."

"Indeed it is peculiar that an ice maiden would fall into the hands of a human easily. Given the circumstances and who the maiden has been captured by though it would definitely appear that he is using her for her tears." Kurama stated and Botan nodded.

"That's exactly it." Botan explained grimly. "The tears of Ice Maidens become priceless jewels and sell for millions on the black market." Botan's face grew darker and Nobunaga had a sense of what was going on.

"The bastard's torturing her for the jewels." He summed up and rubbed his forehead feeling a massive headache coming on. "I get that Koenma wants Yusuke to rescue her from Tarukane. What doesn't make sense is why Hiei is so worked up about it." He pointed out and at this Botan rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Actually I was about to tell you why. You see upon further investigation... Lord Koenma... found that Yukina is... well... the sister of Hiei." Botan muttered not meeting their faces.

Kurama's eyes just widen at the revelation. Nobunaga on the other hand was just shell shocked. "You have got to be kidding me." His headache got even worse.

"Well... I suppose that would explain why Hiei was more aggressive than usual. Am I also right in the fact that you want us to keep him from killing Tarukane?" Kurama spoke.

Botan hummed in agreement. "That's right. The spirit world forbids demons on probation from killing humans in the Ningenkai or else face further punishment and a longer sentence."

"Heh... Kinda like my agreement with Koenma... without the probation." Nobunaga muttered and this caught Kurama's attention.

At Kurama's staring Nobunaga explained. "When Koenma and I made our deal I was forbidden from killing humans because it's against the laws of the Reikai unless your a shinigami or executioner. Since my father was a shinigami the rules of reaping souls sort of apply to me as well other than the deal."

Botan spoke again. "Well we can't waste any more time now. The faster we get to Hiei the better chance that Yusuke and Kuwabara will have of saving Yukina."

At this the trio once again headed for the abandoned village where Yukina was being kept prisoner.

* * *

*At the mansion*

Yusuke and Kuwabara made it to the mansion with no problems only to face a rather large problem. The entire mansion was crawling with demons! The two humans had gotten past the security outside and twelve other demons.

"Hey Kuwabara can you even sense her spirit?" Yusuke asked the love stricken human sweatdropping. Upon seeing Yukina's image in the video Kuwabara had fallen head over heels in love at first sight for the ice demon.

Kuwabara stopped and concentrated on finding Yukina's energy but to no avail. "It's weird. I can't sense anything... Must be because of the bastard who's holding her hostage!" Kuwabara declared making Yusuke sweatdrop even more. Yusuke could feel a headache begin to form. _Geez is this how Naga feels everytime he has to deal with us?_ he wondered.

Kuwabara suddenly stopped. "Hold on. I'm feelin' three energies. Their a lot stronger than the weaklings we just beat."

Yusuke smirked cracking his knuckles. "Three against two huh? What do you say we knock em' down a peg?" He suggested as they walked inside.

The human guards inside never stood a chance.

"T-THEY'RE NOT HUMAN!" The human guards yelled in terror after their bullets had no effect on the two.

"Don't persist then." A voice spoke from behind the guards. A demoness with blue hair, soulless eyes and a horn on her head appeared behind them. "Step aside." she said moving toward Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"Hello. I am Miyuki. One of the Sankishu in the mansion." That was all she said before she attacked them. The two humans managed to dodge her attacks but Kuwabara couldn't attack back.

"SHE'S A GIRL! I CAN'T HIT A FRICKING GIRL!" He yelled out making the demoness smirked at the remark.

"Chivalry will get you nowhere I'm afraid." She attacked again but this time Yusuke bypassed her landing a punch to the face. However that wasn't the only thing he did. It was apparent by the look on the demoness's face that he had coped a feel.

"How dare you?!" She yelled enraged.

"Tch. How dare I? You're not even a chick!" Yusuke yelled out. "That so called 'bust' of yours is just padding!"

Kuwabara shot up in shock. "Hold it! She's a he!?" He yelled out pointing wildly at the transvestite demon.

Said demon looked up from the ground and huffed. "My Body may be that of a man's but my soul is a woman's!"

Yusuke just looked at the crossdresser annoyed. "If you wanna look like a girl then quit acting like you're undecided!"

The demon just looked at him in shock and bowed her head in shame. "I'm defeated."

Yusuke and Kuwabara both looked up at the camera in the room and smirked.

"Well Tarukane? Did you like it?" Yusuke asked laughing.

"Won't be long before we come after you!" Kuwabara added making a peace sign at the camera with Yusuke.

* * *

"Well... that was certainly entertaining." Nobunaga said watching from his position in a tree outside the window. When he, Kurama, and Botan had arrived they found the guards, both human and demon, beaten. Knowing that it was the work of Yusuke and Kuwabara they immediately split up in the hopes of finding Hiei before he attempted something rash. Nobunaga climbed up one of the trees hoping that the higher view would give him a higher chance of finding the short fire demon. Instead of finding Hiei though he was greeted by the sight of the two humans on their team fighting a female demon. Or at least Nobunaga had thought it was girl until Yusuke pointed out that the bust was just padding. Seeing the demon hang her head in defeat, Nobunaga just climbed down the tree quietly.

"A cross-dressing demon. Now I've seen it all." He muttered under his breath.

Nobunnaga wander further into the back of the mansion when he was greeted by a peculiar sight: One of the windows was grated shut and covered in talismans. Knowing found something he transformed himself into a small bird to get a better look. Not surprisingly he found Yukina inside the room. She sat in a chair and was playing with a few birds. Her eyes locked on to him and she smiled. The smile she gave him was innocent and pure much to his shock. Ironic considering the girl was a demon and the sister of Hiei. He jumped when he felt himself being held in her hands and she began to pet the top of his head.

"I wish I could fly away from here like the rest of you." she said referring to Nobunaga and the birds. "I came here looking for my brother and look where I ended up." She sounded so sad that Nobunaga couldn't help but feel sorry for her. So she left looking for Hiei and that was when she'd been captured. He silently hopped up to one of her fingers and nipped at it consoling the girl. Yukina looked down in surprise and smiled petting the top of his head with her finger. She then looked at his eyes. Nobunaga held still hoping that she wouldn't be able to sense what little energy he had emitting from him.

"You have very pretty eyes for a bird you know." She said smiling and laughing a little. Nobunaga felt his body fill with relief until he heard the door opening. He began to fly out of her palm and onto a dark part of the wall where he turned into a mouse silently watching as a disgusting looking human, who he realized was Tarukane, walked into the room followed by a very tall man with muscles and a much smaller man on his shoulders. He noticed Yukina tense up in fear as Tarukane commanded her to cry. When she told him that she couldn't he looked to the birds and ordered the smaller man to do something.

Nobunaga's eyes widened as he heard Tarukane call the smaller one a name.

Toguro.

_How the f**k did he get two of the top killers in the demon world to work for him? _Nobunaga thought to himself in shock. If the Toguro brothers were here then there was much more going on than anticipated.

The smaller Toguro smirked and suddenly his hand began to transform into a tentacle like claw and snatched one of the birds crushing it in his grasp. Nobunaga's hatred for humanity and demons began to flare as Tarukane laughed watching the jewels spill from Yukina's eyes. When the door closed Yukina was still left crying as the remaining birds flew away from the window. Nobunaga watched Yukina and then turned his attention toward the dead bird.

_I'm probably going to regret this later._ he thought turning back into a bird and fluttering towards Yukina. The ice demon hiccupped and looked over to her shoulder when she felt something land on it. finding Nobunaga she sniffed and was surprised when Nobunaga got closer and wiped her tears away with his wing. He flew out the window. Transforming back into his actual form he sighed and began to search once again for Hiei. The girl had been tortured badly if her wrists were any indication. There were old burn marks and many of them. That was probably why the window had so many talismans.

* * *

Back in the mansion, Yusuke and Kuwabara had defeated the rest of the Sankishu.

"HEY TARUKANE!" Yusuke yelled out.

"ARE YOU SCARED YET?" Kuwabara yelled after him.

The two found themselves in a strange viewing room and found themselves face to face with the Toguro brothers.

* * *

Meanwhile Kurama and Nobunaga met in a hallway in the mansion.

"Any luck finding Hiei?" Kurama asked the hybrid. Nobunaga shook his head. "No but I found Yukina. Problem is that I can't break her out. Her room is covered in talismans. I couldn't do anything other than shape shift while I was in there." He explained. "Botan said she was going to report what was happening to Koenma."

Suddenly the two began to hear fighting down the hall. Running down the hall they ran into a room where they saw Tarukane forcing Yukina to look at Yusuke and Kuwabara fight the Younger Toguro and they were getting beaten. Seeing Tarukane laugh at Yukina's reaction was the last straw for Nobunaga as he was about to knock the human's lights out when a black blur flew past him and punched Tarukane and separating him from his sister.

"Hiei!" Kurama yelled out in shock.

Tarukane looked up in terror at Hiei who began to scare him to his wits end. Nobunaga decided to join in the torment.

Tarukane looked at the exile in terror. Nobunaga only smirked and his eyes began to glow. Summoning his knuckle blades the exile brought the edge to the human's cheek and lightly carved a bloody line into it. Nobunaga's terrifying grin only intensified as Tarukane shrieked with pain.

"If I find that you're behind something like this again... Hehe... I don't care what the Reikai's punishment will be... I'm going to torture you ten times worst than what you did to the ice maiden and it'll make a demon tearing you limb from limb seem painless."

Tarukane's mind had enough and the greedy human wound up foaming at the mouth and wetting himself. Letting out a 'tsk'. Nobunaga walked toward the window and was shocked to see both the Toguro brothers on the ground not moving. Kuwabara and yusuke were cheering about how they had defeated the two but sensing the slight energy coming from the bodies Nobunaga knew that the Toguro brothers were a far cry from dead.

"They're not dead." Kurama stated next to him.

Nobunaga hmmed in agreement. "They're planning something for us. I can feel it."

Nobunaga turned to watch Yukina speak with Hiei but then he nearly fell over when she asked.

"I'm sorry but who are you? I don't even know your name." She stated. Hiei said nothing telling her to stay home.

"She doesn't even..." Nobunaga muttered wanting to facepalm. Kurama laughed awkwardly at the situation and patted Nobunaga on the back sympathetically.

"Excuse me." Yukina's voice piped up and the two looked up to see her in front of them.

"I just wanted to say-" when Yukina looked at Nobunaga, particularly his eyes, she stopped. "The bird!" she exclaimed.

Kurama raised an eye brow and Hiei stared at the scene.

"You're the bird that cheered me up!" Yukina said smiling. Nobunaga was about to rebut when she hugged him. Nobunaga suddenly became very still as she hugged him. Looking at Hiei and then Kurama who both gave stares that said they wanted an explanation Nobunaga just sighed and gave her a light pat on the head.

Looking out the window to the scene Yukina remembered Kuwabara and Yusuke. "Oh no! They're still injured" She hurried down to them and began to heal their wounds. Kuwabara having hearts around him the whole time.

Nobunaga was at the mercy of both demons' stares and explained. "When I found her I had shape-shifted into a bird at the time and the bastards were tormenting her into crying. I didn't know what else to do so I wiped her tears with my wing." He finished rubbing the back of his head at the tense silence.

Hiei gave a 'hn' and began to leave. Kurama on the other hand smiled softly. "I thought you said you despised demons Nobunaga."

Nobunaga huffed at the fox annoyed. "I do moron. Yukina though... It's ironic... She's a demon and yet there's nothing demonic about her. The way she was smiling when she was playing with the birds..." Nobunaga trailed off looking down a the three in the battle field with softened eyes. "I couldn't let her suffer. She... didn't deserve it. In all the centuries I've been alive... I've never done anything like that."

Kurama only smiled and put a hand on the exile's shoulder.

_He really is something isn't he Shūichi._ Yoko spoke in his mind. There were no words of lust. Only awe. Under all that anger and sarcasm, Nobunaga had inklings of kindness within him.

_For once I wholeheartedly agree Youko._

* * *

As they were getting ready to leave, Nobunaga found an office. Walking in and seeing nothing of interest he was about to leave when something caught his eye. A few papers and a photograph of a girl's face. A very familiar one at that. Picking up the papers and leafing through them Nobunaga muttered

"You've gotta be kidding me." He muttered and pulled out his communicator typing a quick message. It said

_I need you to meet me at this location. Might have a lead concerning that head of yours._

Waiting outside Nobunaga was found by Kurama. "Nobunaga? What are you still doing here?" He asked standing next to the exile.

"Waiting for someone." He said and soon the sound of a motorcycle could be heard. Kurama was surprised to see a woman with a cat head helmet pull up.

"Celty, here." Nobunaga said handing her a few papers and going over them with her. "It's definitely still in Ikebokuro." Nobunaga began to explain something to the woman Celty and Kurama couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as he watched them.

Nobunaga noticed that Kurama was still there. Celty looked at him them typed something into her PDA. _Friend of yours?_

"More like someone I have to put up with." Nobunaga huffed and turned to Kurama.

"Kurama this is Celty Sturluson. Celty this is Kurama." Nobunaga introduced them and they nodded to each other.

"May I inquire as to why you asked Miss Sturluson out here?" Kurama asked narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Someone stole her head." Nobunaga simply replied making Kurama double take at his words. At Kurama's reaction Celty took off her helmet revealing no head and in it's place a black energy flowing out of her neck.

"Celty here is what we call a dullahan. A spirit that possesses powers much like that of a shinigami. She's been a friend of mine for centuries. Someone stole her head and it's lead her to coming and staying at Ikebokuro. I went into Tarukane's office and it looks like he was one of the ones in the black market who wanted her head. Sicko." he muttered afterward.

Celty left after a while leaving the two to go home. Nobunaga was about to draw a portal to leave when Kurama stopped him.

"What?" Nobunaga questioned.

Suddenly Kurama gripped his shoulders tightly. "What the hell Kurama!?" Nobunaga looked him in the eyes and immediately wished that he didn't. The familiar emerald of Kurama's eyes were gradually changing to piercing gold and looked at him with... Hunger.

Alarmed that Kurama may have lost control and would try to devour his soul, Nobunaga immediately concentrated and began to chant his binding spell locking Kurama with black chains. The fox kneeled at the weight of the metal.

"I swear if you're gonna eat me I'm going to kill you with no regrets!" Nobunaga yelled. Then Kurama looked up at him. The look on his face confused the exile. There was frustration and... was that longing?

"Kurama?" Nobunaga questioned. "...Wait... not Kurama... Youko?" At this response Youko smirked a little.

He spoke and his voice came out deeper than Kurama's sending slight shivers down Nobunaga's spine. "You caught on quick Nobunaga. I got tired of Shūichi going in circles and finally decided to take matters into my own hands. It seems I forgot to calculate your reaction though." He chuckled softly at this looking at the exile amused.

Nobunaga growled and looked at the demon with distrust. "Why did you decide to take over?" he said getting to his knees to be at level with the still bound fox.

Youko chuckled. "Isn't it obvious?" Nobunaga was about to question him when he suddenly felt a soft pressure on his lips. He froze or a few seconds before realizing that Youko was kissing him! He was about to push the fox back when Youko pulled away licking his lips.

"Delicious." He smirked and closed his eyes. When the eyes opened again Nobunaga was relieved to find that they were green again.

"Nobunaga... I... I'm sorry..." Kurama looked down in shame at Youko's actions.

Nobunaga wordlessly released the spell and stepped back a bit. "What did Youko mean when he said that it was obvious?" He looked at the fox warily wondering if this was some sort of game that the bandit was playing.

"If it is all the same to you Nobunaga... I would like to tell you when you and I are both ready." Kurama said. With that the fox left before Nobunaga could question him again. Nobunaga remembered what it was like kissing Yoko and touched his lips remembering the small jolt of electricity he felt. Shaking his head the exile opened a portal and went straight for his tower and climbed into bed.

* * *

Two months passed after saving Yukina. Nobunaga had been staying in his realm during the time and he had not forgotten about the kiss Youko had given him. Before he could keep pondering he sensed two energies. At the detection of whose they were Nobunaga immediately made a beeline for his grove of death trees. He found Kurama and Kuwabara there with Kurama trying to free the human before he could get devoured all the while trying to protect himself.

Nobunaga immediately sent a shock wave of his own energy causing the demonic trees to recoil.

Kuwabara was the first to recover. "WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE TREES?!" He yelled at the exile.

"Well excuse me dumbass but when you've been hunted by the Reikai and Makai for over 700 years you tend to take precautions so that you're not dead." He muttered dryly causing Kuwabara to go red with anger and humiliation.

"How did you two even get here." Nobunaga asked eyes narrowing at the two.

"Koenma said that the Jigoku realm is your home and he was able to open a rather weak portal to get us here. We have news that I'm afraid that you may have to partake in." Kurama said. The look of longing was still in his eyes Nobunaga noticed but ignored for his sanity's sake.

"Let's talk about this in my home." The followed Nobunaga to his tower and were amazed when he broke the seal on the tower revealing the entrance. They entered his library and Kurama was floored at the multitude of books that spanned around the large space. Kurama turned his attention to a few scrolls in a shelf and touched them delicately. "Scrolls from the library of Alexandria. A rare find."

"Kurama. If you and Kuwabara would be so kind as to tell me why you are here I would greatly appreciate it." Nobunaga muttered.

"We have been chosen to be special guests at the 'Dark Tournament'". At this Nobunaga's eyes widened with shock.

"Hey I've been wantin' to ask. What the hell's the dark tournament?" Kuwabara asked confused.

"A tournament crafted by the vilest of humans in an organization called the 'Black book Club'." Nobunaga snarled fangs peeking out. "Those bastards are the darkest examples of the corruption in humanity. Teams of demons fight and tear each other limb from limb for a wish. Chaotic bloodshed for a sick game is all it is."

"Yes and it would appear that the Toguro brothers have chosen us to enter." Kurama said looking at the exile gravely.

"They want me too." Nobunaga stated and Kurama nodded grimly.

"So did you come only to warn me or is there another reason?" Nobunaga pressed and Kurama nodded.

"I need to help Kuwabara train somewhere with no interruptions. We may also need your expertise seeing as you powers range in magic and your physical abilities. Yusuke is training with Genkai in order to become stronger and I'm afraid I do not know the whereabouts of Hiei."

Nobunaga rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "Fine. Know this though. I will not go easy on either of you. I'll help you train but we will be pushing you past your limits. Understood?" At the nods from both Kurama and Kuwabara Nobunaga sighed.

_The Dark tournament huh? Going to have to train these two until they feel like their bones are gonna break._

* * *

**Author's note**: And that is chapter 13 everyone! Sorry about the scene where Yusuke and Kuwabara fight the Toguro brother but I really didn't want to have explain the whole scene. Anyway hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Happy New Year!

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	14. The dark tournament

OK so forgive me for not updating since New Years. I was planning on updating during my spring break but my Kuroko no Basuke story wound up taking more time than I thought so sorry about that. Any way onto the story

I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own Nobunaga and his family. Any spells I use are reference to the games 'Bravely Default', 'Okami' and 'Kingdom Hearts'.

* * *

Chapter 14: The Dark tournament

Demons were all that Nobunaga could see at the moment. Demons of every shape and size all waited for the captain of the ship to announce their departure for the area of this years Dark Tournament: Hanging Island. As he sat in the trees waiting Nobunaga still saw no sign of his teammates. Sighing softly he closed his eyes and thought back to three months prior when he had been helping Kurama and Kuwabara train for the 'event'.

* * *

_*Three months earlier*_

_Nobunaga lunged for Kurama with knuckle blades in hand as he tried to slice through the fox only to clash with the end of a thorny whip. For hours the two beings had been going around in a deadly dance of precision, agility, and grace. Kurama already had a few shallow gashes and bruising from Nobunaga's style of fighting whereas the exile was covered in scratches and a few shallow cuts here and there._

_"You're good I'll admit to that." Nobunaga stated as he dodged another onslaught of whiplashes._

_"I must admit as well, your level of skill astounds me Nobunaga." Kurama said giving a quick smile as just barely dodged another slash from the exile's knuckle blades._

_"However-" Nobunaga stated before suddenly disappearing from Kurama's line of vision. Kurama's senses were on high alert as he branched his spirit energy out seeking his comrade. He tensed when he felt the cool metal of a blade at his throat, the sharp edge adding light pressure as a thin trickle of blood ran its course down the skin. His eyes turned to find the exile smirking at him._

_"You've still got a bit to go before you're ready." Nobunaga finished as he removed the blade from the fox's throat._

_"It would appear so." Kurama said frowning. He had a thinking face and Nobunaga just sighed._

_"That went rather well. The only thing that I have to warn you about though is not to analyze an opponent's strategies __too__ much. Especially if it's during something like the tournament. Though there may be some pattern of predictability that you may be able to find, an opponent can still have a few tricks up their sleeve that you may not be able to take notice of. Letting your guard slip is not something you cannot afford." Nobunaga explained to the fox who nodded in understanding._

_Kuwabara spoke from his seat on the ground a few feet away from the two. "Man you two really got into it huh?" he stated more than questioned and Nobunaga just 'tsked'._

_"Of course. We're going to be dealing with demons who will want nothing more to slaughter us all for a measly wish. There won't be any mercy so we have to do as much as possible to ensure that we're ready for anything they may decide to use against us." The exile motioned for Kuwabara to come forward as it was his turn._

_Biting his thumb until it bled, Nobunaga drew a symbol consisting of several circles with a wavy line going through them while chanting in a whisper. At once a blackness erupted from the ground startling the human and gaining the curiosity of Kurama. Observing him over the course of their training Nobunaga, true to his word, had indeed been training them to the point of near death from exhaustion. At first Kuwabara had given complaint but the shinigami-witch hybrid was quick to silence him as he explained that the humans who constructed the tournament only did so for their own twisted pleasure in watching them spill blood. They would not care that other humans would be amidst the carnage. _

_Kurama had to agree. If there was one trait made similar between humans and demons, it was lack of respect towards their own kind. There would be blood, that was certain. The fact that those they would face would love to rip them apart was another given. The fox watched as Nobunaga commanded the summoning to take the form of the human before them and to the surprise of both the human and demon, it flowed around the human and then took Kuwabara's shape. It was a summoning only known as shadow as Nobunaga explained later. It had the ability to take any form that it wished and as of right now it's purpose was to help train Kuwabara: By making him go up against himself. Both Kurama and Nobunaga knew that as of right now Kuwabara was their weakest link. The best thing to do for him would be to help him improve his abilities in combat and strategy._

_"If we're going to prepare you for what's coming we have to raise your skills from your own level right now. If you were to go fight with the power you possess at the moment you'd die right on the spot. Always look for a way to stop your opponent." Nobunaga advised as Kuwabara kept trying, and failing, to slash at the shadow of himself._

* * *

The exile sighed as he remembered training the two. He trained them until they were on the verge of dying. It had been necessary though. Including for himself. He'd summoned beast after beast fighting until he spent all of his spiritual energy and most of his blood lost. The results however, were worth it for all three of them as they vastly improved by an impressive amount.

"Have you been here long Nobunaga?" Kurama's voice called out from under the tree. Smirking, said man jumped out from his perch and landed in front of the fox. His smirk widened when he saw Hiei and Kuwabara as well.

"Took you all long enough." He said but then looked around and felt for the energy of their last comrade with his own. "So Yusuke has yet to show up I take it?" he said crossing his arms. Nobunaga was currently wearing a white t-shirt, dark grey cargo pants, and his black combat boots. He also had a medical patch over his blue and black eye. After Maze Castle he was more cautious about hiding himself from other demons lest he wanted to get found out. He carried a small sack over his shoulder containing medicinal herbs, some clothes, and potions made just for use in the tournament along with a few other items.

"He will be here." Kurama assured the other man.

"He better not be gettin' cold feet." Kuwabara grumbled.

Hiei just scoffed at the human. "I'm surprised you even decided to show up fool." He stated riling Kuwabara up.

Nobunaga and Kurama both watched the two squabble (Mostly Kuwabara) with sweatdrops running down their heads.

"I think Hiei insults Kuwabara like this just to get a reaction from him." Kurama stated unsure of himself.

"Hell if I know." Nobunaga stated ignoring the rest of the argument. He was beginning to feel as though the demons around them were getting a bit too close for comfort (If you could call being around them comfort at all) and he tuned into a conversation a demon was having as it observed them.

"I smell a human!" He said and began to drool. "Mmm... A meal..." He said trying to get a better look but then screeched clutching his chest as he felt like something had taken a hold of his heart and squeezed it. The demons around him looked in alarm as he kept screaming.

"GAHHH! W-What's going on!? M-m-my...AUGH!" He screamed in agony. Nobunaga had his back turned but smirked as his released the energy he had focused into his left hand which he curled into a fist as the demon passed out from the sheer amount of pain. Kurama gave him a look to which Nobunaga simply gave an innocent shrug.

For Kuwabara it felt as if a century had passed (in reality it was only an hour). He finally lost control on his temperament and yelled: "Where the hell is Urameshi!? He's not here and we don't even have a fifth member!"

Nobunaga rolled his eyes as sat at the base of the tree shutting his eyes. "Kuwabara calm your human arse down already."

Hiei scoffed at the human. "Stop your blathering and focus. Are you ready or not?"

Kuwabara gave the short demon a sneer in return. "Oh I'm ready hamster legs! Kurama and Nobunaga trained me just for the occassion!" He stated jabbing a thumb at the two.

Nobunaga smirked and called out. "He's good enough that he might not get his ass handed to him too bad." This caused Kuwabara to falter, Kurama to deadpan at the exile, and for Hiei to smirk slightly.

"Whose side are you on!?" Kuwabara yelled angrily. Nobunaga just let out a whispery chuckle before adding. "Couldn't resist."

"I believe Kuwabara is fired up enough without your input." Kurama stated as he watched the argument continue.

Nobunaga's smirk grew. "Not my fault he's so easy to agitate. It's a good source of entertainment."

_A bit of a sadist I might say if he weren't right. That human is quite entertaining. _Youko stated as he watched from his corner of Kurama's mind. Kurama didn't speak but he silently agreed though begrudgingly. It truly was entertaining to pick on the Kuwabara some days.

A hoarse voice boomed throughout the area gaining the attention of all who were present. The captain, a stout demon with an eye patch and peg leg, was ready to embark to Hanging island.

"Sirs, it's time to embark." The captain stated but Kuwabara protested.

"Not so quickly! We're one man short!" He exclaimed but the captain shook his head.

"Then it's counted as a withdrawal ya mangy human. Sorry but rules are rules n' if ya don't have all yer members, you die."

"That won't be necessary!" A familiar voice called out. Near the tress and emerging from the shadows stood Yusuke with a duffle bag carried over his shoulder. For once his hair wasn't gelled back. He wore blue jeans, black sneakers, and a white t-shirt under a red jacket. Nobungaga's attention however wasn't on the spirit detective. It was on the little figure next him. Little wasn't even the right word to describe the figure at the moment. He or she (Nobunaga wasn't sexist) barely reached Yusuke's knees wearing red and white fighting garb. Completing the way of dress was the fabric wrapped around the figure's face covering it but leaving enough space in order to see the brown eyes peeking out.

"What the hell were you doin' Urameshi?! Taking a walk through the park?!" Kuwabara yelled but Yusuke ignored it as he walked up to the rest of his team and grinned.

"Yusuke." Hiei greeted before whipping out his sword. The rest of the team watched as the fire apparition slashed repeatedly at the detective who in turn, dodged with a speed the others never thought he had. To others it looked as if Hiei was trying to kill the human, but the rest of the team knew that he was testing how much Yusuke had improved.

"Th-they're movin' so fast I can barely see em'!" Kuwabara looked at the two in awe. Kurama smiled while Nobunaga just had a smirk as he looked over at the masked figure. Out of all those he'd known over the course of his lifetime, there was only one person in all three realms (not including his own) Yusuke could have recruited who was that short.

"Curious way to greet someone don't'cha think?" Yusuke said as he caught the blade between his finger and thumb.

Hiei smirked and stowed his blade back in its original place. "You've made a little progress. I'm impressed."

"'A little'? He improved by a long shot!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

Sensing the spirit sword wielder's distress Kurama reassured him. "Don't fret Kuwbara. You've made quite a lot of progress yourself."

"He's right. Besides no sense in going cold turkey now. By the way Yusuke. Am I correct in assuming this one is our sixth member?" Nobunaga pointed to the masked fighter.

"What the- He's even shorter than Hiei! I could sneeze and blast him clear to Mars!" Kuwabara exclaimed in alarm at the fighter's height.

_You're lucky 'the masked fighter' isn't going to hold that comment against you moron. Hiei on the other hand might but he knows that we need you in the tournament. _Nobunaga thought to himself as he watched Kuwabara ask whether the fighter would be a reliable one.

"Don't worry. He's more than reliable." Yusuke assured.

"Alrighty mates! Board the ship and we'll be heading to Hanging island. The voyage will take two hours!" Situating themselves, the team watched as every being on the ship stared at them in contempt and hunger.

The only one not doing so was the captain who stepped onto deck and announced "Welcome to all! I have some good news. We will now be commencing the elimination round!"

The arena in the middle of the deck shot up now becoming a high platform. "The fifteen teams on the island are already qualified. From this boat only one team will be qualified as the sixteenth team to enter the tournament!" The captain finished.

"I thought we were the 'special guests' this year." Kuwabara muttered angrily.

"Clearly these scum had other plans. Should've known they'd do something like this." Nobunaga muttered.

"Choose the strongest of your team! The surviving members will be chosen to partake in the tournament!" The captain finished.

Kuwabara grinned. "A battle royal eh? A filthy plan where the strongest all pit themselves against me!" The human boasted. That all flew out the window when he turned to Yusuke's direction. "Urameshi! Go show them the results of your training!"

Nobunaga had to the resist the urge to throw Kuwabara over board. "Don't talk so high and mighty then you dumbass!" Nobunaga snarled. Kurama placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. It didn't do much but Nobunaga took a few breathes before he reverted back to his previous calm state. He rubbed his forehead. He knew he should've brought some aspirin with him but had decided against it. Now he was regretting it as his headache greeted him with a vengeance.

When no sound came from Yusuke's direction Kuwabara looked over, only to fall at the sight of Yusuke slumped on the ground against the railing of the ship sleeping.

"URAMESHI WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SLEEPING?! You're the leader of this team right? Wake up and show these bastards the results of your training!" A snore was all that came from the human.

"Give it up Kuwabara." Nobunaga said walking over to the angry human. "He was training all those months with Genkai. Knowing her, Yusuke's training was worse than what I put you through." Kuwabara gulped at the memory of having to train with the exile and the summonings and spell s that had been thrown at then.

"T-then who the hell are we sendin' out!?" The human exclaimed but stopped as the masked fighter walked right past him.

Hiei studied the fighter. "So we have a volunteer. We'll see what stomach he has to fight."

"And if he loses? What'll we do then huh?" Kuwabara shot back at the fire demon. Kurama mused this in his mind. The human had a point there.

"Then we'll slaughter everyone else on the boat." Nobunaga stated without batting an eyelash. Hiei looked at him in agreement, Kurama merely trained his eyes on the masked fighter, and Kuwabara just paled at how nonchalant the exile was with the words he had just spoken.

Hiei nodded. "The exile is right. Even if the masked fighter dies we'll still have the five person requirement."

Kuwabara just looked at the two. "You guys had no friends growing up whatsoever huh?"

Nobunaga just rolled his eyes and Hiei merely scoffed. "Just watch fool." Hiei muttered.

As soon as the captain gave the signal for the battle to begin all the demons jumped the masked fighter.

"A collective attack!?" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"He's cornered." Kurama spoke.

The corners of Nobunaga's mouth curved upward into a small smirk.

"Is there something amusing to you Nobunaga?" Kurama asked.

"I just find this to be particularly interesting." He stated and Kuwabara gave him a strange look.

"You find this amusing..." Kuwabara stated as his eye twitched in irritation

"Look at the masked fighter's stance and tell me where you've seen it before." Nobunaga stated leaning back on the rail.

The other three studied the masked fighter and realized that the stance taken was the one Yusuke took when he fired his spirit gun. Sure enough, the fighter fired several blasts of energy in one go similar to Yusuke's technique blowing all the competitors off the platform.

"The basics of the spirit wave... How very interesting." Nobunaga mused to himself.

"The sixteenth that will be selected is... The Urameshi team!" The captain announced

Kurama let out a chuckle at the still sleeping Yusuke as Kuwabara just looked shell-shocked from the outcome of the attack.

"It's no wonder Yusuke could sleep so soundly on a boat full of demons."

Nobunaga barked out a laugh. "I'm pretty sure that if he'd been born back then, he would have been able to sleep through World War II."

The masked fighter climbed down the set of stairs leading from the arena and back toward the group. "Nice job little man, but how about you unwrap those bandages and let us see what ya got under there." Kuwabara stated.

The only response the human got in return was the fighter pointing behind him.

"Wha?" The human muttered before turning his head paling as all the demons on board charged straight at them.

"FORGET THE RULES!" A few cried. "EVEN IF WE LOST A FEW WE CAN KILL EM'!"

Nobunaga summoned his knuckle blades and sliced through two demons. "Well it looks like they stole our plan B."

Hiei pulled his sword out and began his own slaughter. "They'll pay dearly for that."

Kurama pulled his rose from his hair. "Of course. Besides, we can't let the masked fighter have all the fun now can we?"

In response to this both Hiei and Nobunaga let out cruel smirks. Blood splattered all over but the fight lasted for less than five minutes. Hiei and Nobunaga used their blades, Kurama used his whip, the masked fighter used fists, and Kuwabara used his spirit sword. However, as they were fighting two demons managed to slip past them and made their way over to the sleeping Yusuke.

"F**K! They're gonna attack Urameshi while he's still down!" Kuwabara yelled.

"We'll make him sleep for eternity! Take his head!" The two demons snickered. However the two were in for a rude awakening. Yusuke suddenly got up and began attacking with his fists yelling:"OLD B***H! DAMMIT I'M NOT DONE! C'MON RIGHT AT ME OLD HAG!" With that he promptly fell right back to asleep.

"Even when he sleeps he trains." Kurama chuckled. "His own training with Genkai must have been quite rough."

"Wait... Old b***h? That's what he calls Genkai. Wait maybe the masked fighter is... Gah wait what the hell am I thinking!? I gotta get back ta fightin'!"

"Why bother? Everyone else is dead." Hiei explained. It was true as the deck was now covered in fresh corpses. Blood was splattered everywhere although most of it seemed to wind up on Nobunaga again as his clothing and face were painted with red. Said exile was sitting on the floor toying with the severed head of one of the demons. Kurama was watching the water as the ship kept going and Hiei merely stood on the railing.

Kuwabara's face turned pale as he watched Nobunaga play with the severed head. "Can you please not do that? It's freakin' me out." He said.

The male in question merely looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Why? We still have another hour or so before we get to the island and we already killed everyone else. It's not like I'm gonna dissect all the bodies." He finished.

Kuwabara just gave a sigh of relief.

"I already opened a few to see their organs and stopped after the seventh one so why bother?" At this all three just stared at him. Kuwabara in fear, Hiei with slight surprise, and Kurama in increulity.

"Something's wrong with you..." Kuwabara muttered. Nobunaga shrugged.

"I'm not Sugita Genpaku(1) at least. He did a dissection once not knowing that the person was still barely alive until he cut him open." Kuwabara had enough and went over to sit with the still sleeping Yusuke.

An hour passed and the captain yelled their arrival. Sure enough the ship arrived at the island where the tournament would be held. Nobunaga looked at it grimly. It truly did look like the shape of the gallows. 'Hanging Island' was a fitting title.

The group of six made their way towards the hotel they were staying at. As Kuwabara lugged Yusuke around he took a look and whistled. "Ritzy."

A bellhop was waiting for them. "Good evening. You're rooms have been prepared. Please follow me." The six followed without a word. The fine hairs on Nobunaga's neck were standing on end however. The atmosphere was grim. It did not help that he heard two demons murmuring "There go the sacrificial lambs."

They finally made it to their room. It had three bedrooms and three bathrooms. There were two beds in each bedroom and there was a view of the ocean coming from the window. It would have been lovely had it not been for the situation at hand.

"Alright whoever's rooming with me just put your stuff on the bed I don't claim." Nobunaga said walking toward one of the rooms and set his bag on the mattress. He could overhear Kuwabara saying that he would be rooming with Yusuke and Hiei claiming he wouldn't be sleeping in this hotel very much. Personally Nobunaga agreed with him and briefly wondered about doing the same. Hearing the door open he turned to find the masked fighter setting a small bag on the bed opposite of his. The fighter nodded toward him.

"So how long do you plan on keeping up this charade?" Nobunaga asked. The fighter turned toward him in silence. Brown eyes looked like they were giving him sass so Nobunaga gave a small shrug before walking out the door with the fighter trailing behind him.

Another bellhop came into the room, this time with six cups. "Pardon the intrusion. I have brought tea for you." He placed the cups on the table and left.

"Kurama, Hiei, and the masked fighter immediately grabbed cups of their own. Nobunaga and Kuwabara looked hesitant.

"Hey I'm a little wary of this stuff. What if it's poisoned." Kuwabara stated sweating a bit.

Nobunaga just stayed silent but stared at the cups as well. He had had moments back when he'd still been quite young not being able to hide his energy well yet and traveling between realms only to get tangled in situations where demons would disguise themselves as humans with food and drinks that contained various poisons. Over time his senses grew sharper and he was able to detect whether his food contained poison. Nobunaga grabbed his cup studying the liquid and the color carefully before inhaling for a second. He took a small sip. Nothing. It definitely needed sugar though.

"Tea's fine Kuwabara. Just needs sugar." Nobunaga said looking for the jar of sugar that seemed to have vanished.

"Don't be paranoid. The aim of the tournament is noble." Kurama assured not hesitating to drink the tea. Nobunaga snorted at the 'noble' part.

Hiei finished his cup. "He's right. The aim is to prove yourself in combat."

Kuwabara was having none of that as he rummaged through his bag before pulling out an energy drink.

"We win by being careful! I've brought my own drink!" The human stated.

Kurama then noticed something odd. "Strange. One of the cups is missing."

"It's mine remember? I didn't take any." Kuwabara reminded the fox.

"Yes but here should be two then." Nobunaga got up toward the mantle piece as Kurama finished. "One for you and one for-"

"Oi don't hog all the sugar." The rest turned to Nobunaga who was speaking to what appeared to be a young boy sitting on the mantle piece drinking the missing cup of tea and holding the jar of sugar away from him. he had brown hair covered by a large hat and had three pink stars across one cheek.

"WHAT THE- WHEN DID-" Kuwabara struggled to form a complete sentence. The others looked just as shocked.

"He must've been in the room before we came in!" Kuwabara summed up.

"Maybe." Kurama replied.

"You think I hid?" The kid laughed. "I'm not petty. I entered via the door. I just forgot to knock is all. Let me introduce myself. I'm Rinku and I'll be on the team your fighting tomorrow." He said and then pouted when Nobunaga finally got his hands on the sugar.

"You spoke to much Rinku." A voice called out from the doorway causing the rest to jump. Nobunaga just kept drinking his tea and watched.

A demon with bleach blonde hair, a black tea shirt and jeans leaned against the doorway.

"Whoops. Sorry Zeru." Rinku apologized. "I was just playing a game."

Zeru merely glared at the team in the room. "Profit well from your last night. Tomorrow you'll end up like that cup."

Looking at the remaining cup on the table, they were all surprised to find it had been cleanly sliced in two.

As the two demons left it was decided they would rest up for tomorrow. Nobunaga remained looking out the window. Kurama walked out surprised to see the exile.

"Can't sleep?" The fox asked. A shrug was his answer and he stood beside the exile watching the darkness of the ocean.

"We can't let our guard not even once." He finally said. "One wrong move and its a death sentence."

Kurama gave the man's shoulder a comforting squeeze. Nobunaga gave a tired smirk. "Go to sleep fox. I'll head to bed myself in a moment." He turned back to watch as dark waves glowed eerily in the moonlight.

Kurama watched as pale beams made the exile look paler than usual. The eyepatch had finally come off revealing the blue frost and dark abyss that made up Nobunaga's left eye.

_He's beautiful. _Youko finally spoke from the deepest part of Kurama's mind.

**Indeed he is. **Kurama spoke back in his mind. He began to walk back to his own room. Hiei, true to his word, was no where in sight. He was probably outside somewhere.

_He is right however Shūichi. You must not falter._

**I don't plan on being taken down easily Youko. Goodnight.**

The bandit grunted in response and remained silent. Nobunaga laid down in his bed and closed his eyes. He could only wait in anticipation for what would lie ahead of them tomorrow

* * *

**Author's note**: ok so once again sorry for not updating. Also I will try to update my stories as much as possible over the summer but since I am also looking for a part time job it may take awhile. Anyway I have a question for all of you who read this story. How should I go about the fights. Should I keep them the same as in the manga and anime? I know for the fight with team Masho and the Toguro brothers I will have Nobunaga fight but what about the other fights? Again review please no flames.

(1) Sugita Genpaku- translated a book on Human anatomy. The corpse part I mentioned I something I made up. Yes he dissected a human corpse but I'm pretty sure if was truly dead.

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	15. Kuwabara versus Rinku

sorry for updating late but I have other chapters I'm working on as well so it's a struggle.

I do not own YuYu Hakusho. Only Nobunaga is mine. Once again any spells I use are reference to the games Bravely Default, Kingdom Hearts, and Okami.

* * *

Chapter 15: Kuwabara versus Rinku

At last morning arrived and with it the first day of the Dark Tournament. With everyone dressed and prepared, the group made their way toward the stadium.

In the center of the fighting ring stood a female demon. She had auburn hair with orange feline ears and a bushy tail indicating that she was either a cat or fox demon. She held a microphone in her hand indicating that she was the primary announcer for the tournament.

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE! WE'RE GOING TO START WITH THE FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND! WELCOME ALL OF YOU TO THE DARK TOURNAMENT!" The demoness announced.

After that announcement both teams emerged and walked toward the center where the arena lay. Nobunaga resisted the urge to set the stands completely aflame as the hoards of demons jeered at the team.

"BAND OF WEAKLINGS! YOU'LL ALL DIE! KURAMA, HIEI YOU TRAITORS!" That was only a few snippets that Nobunaga could hear clearly if he strained his hearing.

Kuwabara growled as he hefted Yusuke high on his shoulders. Their captain was still unconscious and like Nobunaga had said the night before, a nuclear bomb could go off and he would still be dead asleep.

"I see we're not very popular with these guys."

Hiei merely ignored the jeering as Kurama scoffed."What could they possibly know about betrayal?"

Nobunaga shook his head. "Don't waste you're breath asking that. They see it as betrayal against their own kind. They'll b***h about betrayal from comrades or species either way." He explained. So far no one had noticed anything odd about the exile meaning that his cover wasn't blown. For all they probably knew, he was a human with an incredibly weak aura.

"Both teams please step into the arena." The announcer stated into the microphone. "Both leaders of each team must agree on the terms of combat. You can engage in a series of duels and we tally up the number of victories in total." She explained.

"Problem is our leader is still dead to the world." Nobunaga stated quietly and looked at Yusuke still sleeping. That morning Kuwabara had tried to wake the other human with noise and other means which had caused the exile to promptly shut him up with a silencing spell as well as an explanation from Kurama that Yusuke was still recovering lost energy from training with Genkai. Nobunaga had given the noisy human an echo herb only after threatening to rip him apart from the inside out if he woke the rest of them up like that again.

"Hey Kurama, Nobunaga help me set Urameshi down over here. I'll step up to plate in his place." Kuwabara explained. This earned him no complaints from them or Hiei who was studying the fighters on the opposing team. After they propped him against the wall, they made their way back into the arena where Zeru stood next to the announcer with the rest of the team a little ways behind him.

Zeru looked at Kuwabara. "So you're the leader?"

Kuwabara smirked. "Heh I'm stepping in for him this time.

The demon merely scoffed in return. "Do as you like. I prefer the duel."

Kuwabara's smirk grew wider. "You're speakin' my language. Man to man it is then." With that the two walked back towards their respective teams.

"A duel in five rounds has been decided." The announcer, whose name Nobunaga later found out but didn't care to remember, Koto stated.

As Kuwabara walked back he flinched as he felt Zeru's energy spike. Turning, he paled seeing fire wrap itself around the demon's body and then spread itself around the team. However the show of fire quickly vanished as a slight wind wrapped itself around the flames dissipating it.

"If you're trying to provoke sleeping beauty over there then you're out of luck." Nobunaga stated casually knowing the the show was directed toward their still sleeping leader. Zeru glared at the man but was taken aback when he saw a ghastly yellow glow slightly flicker within Nobunaga's exposed brown eye. The energy wavered to a halt and both teams stepped off the arena and onto the grass.

"Are both teams ready for the first round?" Koto asked.

Rinku stepped up. "I'll go first!" He announced walking to the ring.

"This little punk is mine." Kuwabara growled stomping over to the ring himself. Nobunaga sighed placing his forehead into his hand.

"So we have a fourteen year old human fighting a demon who in retrospect looks like a child in comparison physically... This is going to be interesting." He said more to himself but Kurama heard him.

"Have more faith in Kuwabara. He will not take this duel lightly." Kurama chided the other who gave him a pointed look.

"Fox this is Kuwabara we're talking about here. He will take the fight seriously but he may become cocky." He was about to say more but then Koto spoke into her microphone again.

"This match is one on one. You are free to use whatever you want in combat but you cannot leave the ring unless it's a knockout." She explained the rules.

"Got it loud and clear." Kuwabara said stretching his arms as he readied himself. "Let's get this started already!"

Rinku merely smirked as he stood on his tiptoes. "Let's play!"

Suddenly Rinku jumped and in a show of speed made it appear as though there were seven of himself in total running around Kuwabara in the ring.

Koto looked around trying to spot which Rinku was real. "Rinku is moving so fast that we're having trouble following his movements around the ring!"

The demon appeared to be quite cocky believing that there was no way a mere human like Kuwabara could follow his own movements but those thoughts were cut short when Kuwabara landed a punch atop Rinku's head causing the hat to fly off and the force to make him land in the ring. At this Rinku tried his running tactic again but Kuwabara was now able to predict where he would appear.

"Kuwabara has become more powerful and appears to be doing quite well. Don't you think Nobunaga?" Kurama said looking at Nobunaga from the corner of his eye. The exile kept his eyes trained on the human and the duel and shrugged. "So far so good. Though something's not sitting right with me about Rinku. It just looks like he's fooling around instead of trying to take Kuwabara down. Kuwabara better be quick about finishing this though."

Hiei scoffed. "He'd better stop playing around with his opponent... he should summon his sword to finish the job."

The three watched intently as Kuwabara aimed for the finishing blow but were shocked as Rinku disappeared from sight. Kuwabara was just as shocked and heard behind him "So, are you having fun?". After the question left Rinku's mouth, the demon kicked Kuwabara right in the head and sent him falling to the ground with a thud.

"And with a swift blow to the head Kuwabara is knocked flat on the ground! I'll begin the countdown!" Koto said but was interrupted by Rinku.

"Don't bother counting. I broke the idiot's neck!" Rinku chuckled.

"The brat really was playing around." Nobunaga muttered as he and Kurama looked at the motionless body of Kuwabara.

However when Rinku began to walk away, Kuwabara spoke. "You spoke too soon kid." He grumbled getting up onto one knee and popping his neck back into place. "You're gonna pay for that."

"Kuwabara is getting up! We're starting to hit the high points now! This match is heating up as we witness a first round of great intensity!" Koto said getting fired up.

"You really did surprise me with that attack. I didn't protect myself so that one was on me. That kick didn't do damage... You're not worth much." Kuwabara muttered getting into a fighting position.

Rinku looked surprised but then a smirk stretched across his mouth. "There really was a reason you were invited. Now the fun begins." From the pouch tied to his waist he pulled out eight small yoyos four for each hand, one between each knuckle. "Devil yo-yo!"

"Bring it on pipsqueak!" Kuwabara yelled. "DOUBLE SPIRIT SWORDS!" Sure enough, two spirit swords emerged in the human's hands.

"The fool can summon two of his weapon now?" Hiei asked watching with slight interest. Nobunaga gave a small smirk while Kurama smiled.

"That's right. When Kurama and I were training him were weren't just working on attack power and precision alone. Dexterity and control of energy were the other main points that we focused on. Kuwabara is able to do this because he knows now to not waste his energy in one go." The exile explained.

Rinku sent four of the yo-yos Kuwabara's way but the human did not move as they were coming closer.

Kuwabara scoffed and readied himself to cut through the strings. "That all you got? I'll show you-" He was cut off when the yo-yos completely dodged his attack and got him in the face and chest.

Kurama watched surprised, Hiei looked indifferent, and Nobunaga did a facepalm. "Of course I think I should've beaten the fact that you should never underestimate an opponent's weapon into his head."

Rinku laughed at the human. "Did you seriously think that these were just toys for children?" he questioned as he flicked the toys up and down. I can control the yo-yos in any direction I want using my energy. See?" Using his energy, the demon made the strings move as if they were snakes.

Rinku then thrust both hands forwards ending the yo-yos towards Kuwabara. One hand sent four across the ring digging trenches into the stone while the other sent the remaining four over head.

"They're digging trenches as they advance!?" Kuwabara said looking as the yo-you came closer. He jumped away from the frontal attack letting out a curse as he dodged them.

However the human had forgotten about the yo-yos descending above him and the weapons pounded upon his back sending him to the ground.

Kurama and Nobunaga looked on. "The threads are doing what he wants!" Kurama exclaimed watching as the fight continued. Nobunaga merely grit his teeth cursing up a storm in his mind.

Kuwabara groaned from his place in the ring and looked over at his arms. His wrists had the yo-yos wrapped around them. He could feel the threads wrapped around his ankles as well. Suddenly he was lifted into the air and only kept escalating higher.

"Uhwaaa!?" The human let out a yell as the threads lifted him.

"Rinku has raised all 180cm of Kuwabara in the air! It's like he's become a kite!" Koto yelled at he scene unraveling before her.

Rinku grinned. "You're going to do a round the world!" Immediately after the demon said that he sent Kuwabara hurtling towards the ground face first into the stone. The demons in the stands jeered screaming for Rinku to finish Kuwabara off.

Hiei gave a sigh as he watched Kuwabara continue to smash into the stone. "It seems your training wasn't enough." He said addressing both Kurama and Nobunaga.

"...No." Kurama spoke. "He hasn't shown everything yet."

Nobunaga nodded. "Kuwabara may look f**ked right now but there are still tricks that he can use. We made sure of it." He winced as Kuwabara made contact with the ring a fourth time. "Let's just hope he remembers before his skull cracks open."

* * *

Meanwhile in the stands, the sounds of shoving could be heard as a small group made their way to see what was going on in the ring. A young man stood at the front wearing purple and beige robes. Were it not for the baubble in his mouth as well as the Jr. sign on his forehead, one would not have paid much attention to him. Yet these signs pointed out that this was Koenma. It wasn't often, but the prince of the spirit world could transform between his child-like appearance and this form. Behind him were four women, Botan being one of the four. Yusuke's friend Keiko had questioned his whereabouts the day before the tournament and after interrogating Botan for a period of time, the bluenette spilled that he and the others would be competing in the Dark Tournament. Naturally, wanting to prevent something stupid from happening to her friend, the human female forced Botan into taking her along. Though this also caused Kuwabara's sister Shizuka and Yusuke's mother Atsuko to find out and tag along as well.

"They've already started!" Botan exclaimed seeing what was happening down below. As she saw what was happening, the bluenette's face morphed into that of shock seeing Kuwabara's fight.

"That's Kuwabara!" She yelled.

Keiko's mouth opened in shock as well once she saw what was going on. "He Looks like he's flying!"

The group watched as Rinku raised Kuwabara higher into the air.

"If he falls he'll die..." Atsuko observed. Koenma deadpanned at the human mother's words.

"That would be the aim of the tournament..." he said.

Keiko looked down on the field seeing three of Yusuke's teammates and then her eyes traveled toward said person's sleeping form propped against the wall.

"WHY IS HE SLEEPING!?" She yelled gaining the attention of several demons around him. "THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR A NAP!"

Two large demons made their way towards Atsuko and Keiko.

"Heh... take a look at these two..." One said.

"Wanna get eaten?" The other threatened causing Atsuko to spew her own threats. It stopped however when Shizuka calmly put her cigarette out on the demon's long tongue leaving him to gripe with pain.

* * *

Rinku looked up at Kuwabara who was in the air at an impressive height. "You're going to be crushed like an insect!" The yo-yos released the human and at once, Kuwabara began to freefall back down to the ring.

"He's falling!" Koto yelled into her microphone. "Will this be the final blow!?"

"Not yet!" Kuwabara yelled. "Lengthen!" He reached his hand out and summoned his spirit sword once again. The energy plunged itself into the ring and acted as a catapult to send him flying in Rinku's direction.

"He supported himself on his perch and leapt straight forward! He's charging straight ahead for Rinku!"

Rinku only smirked readying his yo-yos once more. "He's drawing on is last resources."

"But... that attack is too predictable..." Rinku leaped into the air and launched his weapons. "He's charging stupidly at me. One would say that he wants to take it full in the face!"

However as Kuwabara grew closer, the human launched another sword towards him.

"Not a problem!" Rinku yelled out. "Still an easy attack!"

He was cut short however, when the sword suddenly began to swerve dodging all the threads.

_His sword dodged between my yo-yos!?_

Nobunaga gave a tiny smile and shook his head as his bangs covered his eyes. _Strange method of attacking but nonetheless effective. Well done Kuwabara. Well done._

Kuwabara gave a smirk.

_I just used the same technique as you. The sword doesn't lose its target. That's the product of my training!_

"Rinku! Get away from there!" Zeru called out to the smaller demon.

_I can't!_ Rinku thought as the sword grew closer to him.

_You'll repent it in hell!_ were Kuwabara's thoughts as the yo-yos hit him with full force at the same time his sword pierced through Rinku.

"Both are out of the ring!" Koto cried out. "A null match for both! I'll begin the countdown now!" Koto announced.

As the demoness commenced counting, Rinku heaved himself back into the ring.

"Rinku's pulled himself up!"

"Yeah one defeat for Urameshi!" Demons jeered.

Rinku cursed and began to heal himself. "That coward. I'm going to have to regenerate my self because of him."

"Grahhh!" Kuwabara yelled shocking everyone in the stands and Rinku.

"He's still able to get up?!" the stands echoing with yells.

"Hold it!" Rinku yelled summoning his yo-yos from where Kuwabara had landed. The yo-yos responded tying Kuwabara up.

The human struggled trying to get free of the threads that were holding him down. "WHAT THE HELL IS IT WITH THESE DAMN THINGS!"

"9...10!" Koto finished the countdown. "The winner of the first match is Rinku! The victory is given to team Rokuyukai!"

Kuwabara began to yell at Rinku. "ARE YOU SCARED OF MY FACE OR WHAT?! I CAN STILL FIGHT!"

Rinku was just stunned into silence. _I've had it with his type!_ the demon thought backing away slowly.

"He controlled the yo-yos from a distance." Kurama said watching the spectacle unfold.

"The rules permit it." Hiei stated simply.

"Hey you!" Kuwabara yelled again at the small demon who he lost to. "I'll wait until we're outside so we can finish this!"

""LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" Rinku cried out exasperated and headed back to his own team.

Nobunaga just huffed at the human's behavior. "Kuwabara just get your ass back here so we can continue already!"

Kurama made his way over to the ring. "I'll go next." he announced.

* * *

Author's note: And that brings us to the end of chapter 15! Kurama's fight with Roto will be next so I will try to have it out by the end of next week.

Um... just so we're clear and I've noticed this before but haven't gotten around to fixing it, the chapter where Kurama is first introduced and uses the Forlorn hope I accidentally messed up on yusuke's dialogue in one part. you know the one where he says "If she lives and you die...?" I'm going to fix that in a moment or two as soon as I'm done posting this chapter up because it's been bugging me for months.

On another note there was something I forgot to mention in my note during the saint beasts arc. Omukade knew that Nobunaga was the 'Exile of Worlds' because he had fought Nataku a few times before trying to devour her. by seeing his face and eyes he was able to see the resemblance even without sensing Nobunaga's energies. If nobunag let both of his energies release then they would be able to tell that he was the exile simply because he is half with and half shinigami.

Ok anyway that is all I have to say for right now. See you all in the next chapter!

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	16. Kurama vs Roto

Ok ladies and gents! (If any of you are gents for that matter) Here is chapter 16 of The Exile! You know I was looking at japanese mythology and learned that Roto is a weasel demon called a Kamaitachi. I though that was the name of the sickle he could turn his finger into but it turns out that's what he's called.

What is a Kamaitachi? Well from what I read it's a weasel demon with sickle like claws that travels in groups of three. What it is, is that one will tackle a human to the ground, the second will flay off your leg skin and the third will heal you. Now mind you that this happens all in the blink of an eye so in the end the victim just blinks thinking that they just tripped while the Kamaitachi run off with the flayed leg skin. I found that very interesting especially since Roto is one so I figured that it'd be a cool fact to share. Although when I was telling a friend this they said that the next time they tripped they were going to think about what I told them about Kamaitachi.

Well any way once again I have to say that I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own Nobunaga and his family as well as the names of the Tengu mentioned in previous chapters

* * *

Chapter 15: Kurama vs. Roto

As Kurama uttered those words, a blue skinned demon with spiky black hair and yellow eyes came forward from the opposing team. When both demons entered the ring, Roto chuckled evilly.

"You must be bloody stupid to insist like you're powerful." He said. "I'll overcome you swiftly!" Another cackle.

Hiei looked over to the fox demon. "Kurama." Hiei called gaining the red-head's attention. "Above all else, don't show any mercy. Finish it in one blow." he stated.

"I know." Kurama said as he stepped into the ring.

"Ah hey." Kuwabara said gaining the attention of Nobunaga and Hiei. "I've been wonderin' for a while now... Do either of you guys know where Kurama keeps his rose whip? I wanted to ask during training but I didn't want him to think it was a weird question."

Hiei explained "Kurama's whip is an ordinary rose which he feeds his energy to and wills it to become a whip. He can will even a blade of grass to become as sharp as a blade and cut through solid steel."

"As for where exactly... I'm going to guess on this but based on our mission at Maze Castle, he most likely keeps it hidden in his hair to keep it on hand." Nobunaga added as he kept his eyes on the ring. "There's something odd about that opponent of his though."

"THE SECOND ROUND! KURAMA VS. ROTO!" Koto yelled into her mic as she moved from the fighters to a distance where she could commentate safely.

As the two demons in the ring had a stare down, Roto gave the rest of team Urameshi a glance before yellow eyes flickered back to Kurama.

"You know I heard that you live with humans... Seems as though they were correct. I don't get it, is it truly worth the blow?" Roto asked before a sickle like blade formed from one of his fingers.

"So that's why something felt off. This one is a Kamaitachi." Nobunaga realized as it dawned on him. Kuwabara looked at him strangely while Hiei looked up in understanding.

"Eh? Hold on a sec... A Kamaitachi's a weasel demon right?" Nobunaga gave a nod. "Why's that weird?" Kuwabara asked confused.

"You're correct about them being a species of weasel demon Kuwabara. I'm saying it's weird because it's rare for a Kamaitachi to be alone even in a battle like this. They normally travel and hunt in at least groups of three. In the ningenkai most humans can't even sense them coming so it's easy for one to tackle their victim, a second one to flay their skin, and a third one to heal the victim before they even know what the hell happened." Nobunaga clarified.

At the exile's explanation Kuwabara paled at the information given to him while Hiei merely gave a curt nod. "He is right. To other demons a Kamaitachi would be considered weak due to them needing to travel in groups. There is something odd about this match but we can't interfere. However it does appear that this well become an easy win for Kurama."

"Don't jinx it shrimp." Kuwabara muttered looking on at the ring.

* * *

In the ring, another cruel smirk appeared on Roto's face as he and Kurama stared each other down. "Tell me... Does the death of a human make you sad?"

As they watched from the sidelines Hiei spoke. "This doesn't appear to be much. It will be an easy win for our side."

Nobunaga merely stayed silent as he watched the two in the ring. _'That demon can't be just using taunting as a tactic. There's something else up his sleeves. Kurama what ever you do, do not fall into the weasel's trap.'_

In the blink of an eye, Kurama appeared behind Roto about to incapacitate the Kamaitachi when the demon pulled something like a switch from his clothing.

"You're mother's life is in my hands Kurama. Or should I say... Shuichi Minamino." Roto whispered his smirk widening. Kurama's eyes widened and immediately he backed off. Roto however slashed at him at the same leaving Kurama with a small gash on his cheek.

Hiei tsked and Nobunaga let out a curse. Due to the level of their senses they had been able to hear every word.

"Hiei..." Nobunaga muttered.

"I see her exile..." The fire demon said closing his eyes and activating his Jagan eye. The image of Shiori Minamino appeared in his mind clear as day. She seemed to be running errands. In a tree a few feet away Hiei could see a Kamaitachi in it's beastial form stalking her.

"What the hell? Why's Kurama stopping?! He had him!" Kuwabara protested and Nobunaga bopped him in the back of the head none too lightly in annoyance and as a punishment for taking his own battle too lightly.

"The bastard he's fighting has him with threats of hurting his mother Kuwabara. As long as Roto is in possession of that switch Kurama can't do anything without risking his mother's life. He cares too much for her to do anything rash." Nobunaga explained.

Roto gave a short cackle before fully revealing the detonator in his hand. "Look at this Kurama. By pressing this button... Hehe... Well my brother has been trailing your precious mother for quite a while. A horrid grin graced itself on his face. "You see the plan now don't you? You're a good son correct?"

Kurama did not answer him. Instead he put his hands behind his back dropping the defensive stance he had before. At this Roto punched him square in the jaw his own weapon disappearing.

Roto scoffed with disgust when Kurama made no move against him. "You've been corrupted by humans."

As Kurama fell back, he flicked something at the blue skinned demon. Roto looked down to find a pebble resting at his feet. "Tch... pathetic... A pebble is really all you can do?" Then he began to cackle loudly. "You can't even lay a finger on me. Do you understand? You're my marionette!"

"You want to fight don't you? Get the button away from me so that you can protect you're precious mortal." Roto sneered but then looked closer at Kurama's face. Roto's gleeful mood quickly transformed back into disgust. "I hate that look on your face. I want to see you suffering understand?" His sword formed back and he raked it over the previous cut across Kurama's face making it into an x shape.

"Dammit Kurama fight back!" Kuwabara yelled as he watched what was happening in the ring. Nobunaga shook his head and stared at the redhead. "You're not going to fight back but you're not going to let him win either. If you're done playing the victim then show me what other kinds of tricks the famed fox demon possesses." He muttered quietly. Hiei looked over to him and smirked before his eyes trailed back to the fight. This was quite an interesting development.

Roto began to kick the fox demon and punch him. "You're defeated you hear me? I know what you want to do: You want to cut off this arm of mine, but what if the dead weight if this finger presses the switch?" Roto kept getting angry at Kurama's lack of response. "LOWER YOUR EYES!" He now screamed giving the fox another swift punch. "You're going to lick my boots cleans and after that, I'll spare you're human mother's life. I can't say the same for those beings you call teammates though."

At the twisted grin that appeared again Nobunaga and Hiei rolled their eyes. This one couldn't be serious could he? Kuwabara on the other hand froze and began to sweat at the prospect of having to fight a demon like that.

Roto stared Kurama down. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come at me! Do it!" He urged eager for the look of suffering that would surely appear on Kurama's face if he attacked.

Kurama on the other hand stood back up. "I refuse." He denied. "Go ahead and push it. I've had quite enough."

Roto cackled. " I knew it! You've taken off that mask and shown your true colors! You're just like the rest of us!"

Kurama grew annoyed. "Push it!"

"AS YOU WISH! You're a monster just like the rest of us, valuing nothing!" However just as Roto's thumb hovered over the button he completely froze up.

"Well this is certainly interesting." Hiei spoke.

Kurama walked up to the frozen demon and smacked the detonator away. "I am going to give you some advice. Advice that I give to the whole world. Your bet was quite the bold decision... However the easiest decision can also be the most dangerous. Earlier I sowed a shimaneki, or death plant, seed into your body. As of now the roots have spread completely, and now there is nothing you are capable of doing physically.

Nobunaga gave a small smirk. "So the pebble was just a distraction so that he wouldn't notice the seed entering his body. Very clever."

"A single word on my part and the plant will burst from your body... You're nothing but a guttersnipe. I won't deprive myself."

"N-NO PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I BEG YOU!"

Kurama walked away towards the edge of the ring. However before he stepped on the grass he turned his head toward the demon and gave him a dark look. "Die."

Suddenly vines sprouted and burst from Roto's body as the demon fell to the ground with a dying scream. Kurama turned back towards the corpse as it was no covered completely by vines and beautiful flowers of vibrant colors. "Ironic how the lowest knave's blood produces the loveliest flowers." With that he left for the group.

"Team Urameshi wins the second round! It is now a tie!" Koto announced.

"If it's any reassurance, the demon isn't following your mother anymore. It died when Roto did." Hiei said.

"You knew?" Kurama asked.

Nobunaga nodded. "Hiei and I could hear him and we saw the detonator briefly." The exile looked down and noticed that the hand holding the flower was now crushing it in a tight fist. Nobunaga gave a small sigh as a rare tiny smile of exasperation appeared on his face. Though the fox had put up a farce of indifference, the demon had in fact, been terrified at the prospect that the demon stalking his mother could still have harmed her. Nobunaga gently placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

The small smile on Nobunaga's face disappeared, his normal look of indifference replacing it as Kurama's head turned, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Good work fox." Nobunaga said to him.

As the exile let go of his shoulder and walked to check on Yusuke's sleeping form, Kurama allowed himself a slight smile.

He had seen the smile on Nobunaga's face.

* * *

Unknown to either team, a few figures stood in the entryways under the seats watching the first battle of the day.

"So what do you think?" A male's voice spoke as they watched the first two fights commence. It was hard to tell the features of each person. Whatever light reached the darkness reflected on parts of the figures indicating that there were three present. Light glinted off what appeared to be the lower part of a mask, a helmet, and lastly a pair of eyes that glowed a ghastly shade of green.

"Too early to tell." A female voice said. The gren eyes seemed to glow and under them a set of impressive fangs glinted as they formed a feral grin. "Fufufu... It seems that those brothers were right though. They do have someone of interest to me one that team." The eyes glanced towards Nobunaga and the female voice gave a short laugh again.

"He truly does resemble you Nataku. Let's just hope he'll last as long as you did before your passing." Another cackle resounded as the group of three left.

* * *

Author's note: so that's the end of this chapter. To be honest I had a lot of fun writing this one out. I know that most people don't like this part of the dark tournament arc due to the fact that Kurama isn't albe to act due to Roto being a low-life and threatening his human mother's life. To be honest though I liked writing out that part because it expands a bit more on Kurama's craftiness and I wanted to expand a bit on his worry over her well-being as well as Nobunaga's understanding on that notion. Anyway next is Hiei vs. Zeru so stayed tuned and please remember to review!

Ja'ne- Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	17. Hiei versus Zeru, Yusuke versus Chuu

Spring break is here and I am back baby! At least until the break is over that is.

This is chapter 17 of 'The Exile'. Everyone, I'd like to thank you all for being patient with me. writing usually helps me vent stress but I've been having to focus on school a lot so it's been a bit difficult to say the least. Anyway though we last left off with Kurama winning his fight against the Kamaitachi Roto. Now Hiei will enter the ring for his fight Zeru but who were the three in that dark hall and who was the one who challenged the son of the Witch Queen? We're going to find out soon!

Please also note that the fight with Chuu and Yusuke will also be included seeing as Hiei's fight is rather short. That and I really just want to write out the fight scene.

I do not own Yuyu Hakusho just the OCs. Spells used are made by me and based on other games and anime.

* * *

Chapter 17: Hiei versus Zeru, Yusuke versus Chuu

"On to the next round!" Koto announced. However everyone in the stadium was surprised by who entered the ring. "It seems that Zeru is the next one up from team Rokuyukai! We're waiting for a fighter from the Urameshi team to come forth!"

Kurama leaned in toward Kuwabara and Hiei. Nobunaga was coming back toward them from checking on Yusuke. "Urameshi still out cold?" Kuwabara asked the exile. Nobunaga responded with an exhale.

"Yep. No reaction whatsoever." He let out a small tsk but there was a hint of amusement in his brown eye. "Genkai really did him in good." That eye trailed over to the masked fighter for a moment before looking back at the rest of the team.

"Do you think that he's their leader? The remaining two look as though they care for cleaning up." Kurama questioned as he looked back at Zeru who seemed impatiently waiting for one of them to come up on the ring. The other two who hadn't fought were demons by the names of Gaou and Imajin. At the beginning of the tournament the two had been grinning as if they were going to enjoy their fights. However that joy had dimmed a bit and he could sense a shred of fear emanating from them. Perhaps because of what had transpired of their teammate Roto.

Nobunaga closed his eyes for a moment to get a feel for the energy of the two demons and shook his head. "No it's not likely. Out of the five that were present those two have the weakest energies out of them."

Hiei chuckled. "He must be the boss. It's seems that they may have decided the order by lots." He said removing the cloth from his neck "I'm going to take him. He'll pay for our encounter yesterday." With that the fire demon stepped into the ring.

As Hiei faced the other demon the crowd was roaring again.

"WHOEVER IS CHOSEN, HE'S DONE FOR!"

"THAT GUY IS REALLY POWERFUL"

Nobunaga rubbed the bridge of his nose. Yup, he regretted not bringing some herbs with him to numb the pounding in his head.

"Hey Nobunaga are you alright?" Kuwabara asked him seeing this.

The exile let out a small sigh and massaged his temples. Relief flooded through his system as the pressure against his skull alleviated. "I am now. I think I'm gonna have to think of bringing a bottle of asprin with me from now on." Kurama chuckled at this sentence as they watched the two fighters in the ring.

Hiei looked Zeru in the eye. "You use a kind of fire." He spoke getting Zeru's attention. Hiei smiriked "I saw the traces in the cup. You broke it with you flames and melted where it broke so that it would look like a blade had done it... Not bad..."

The other demon crossed his arms and looked down at him. "So what? Keep your mischievous comments to yourself."

"Let's go!" Koto announced signaling for the two to commence the fight.

At once Zeru let out a huge wave of energy engulfing the ring. "I'm going to reduce you to ashes." He stated cockiness in his voice.

"F**k that hot!" Kuwabara complained trying to shield himself from the heat. He could feel his skin burning slightly from the intensity "I've got a bad feeling about this!"

He was surprised though when Nobunaga dragged him over to where he and Kurama were standing. He closed his eyes and brought his hands together as though he were going to pray and a low chant emanated from him. Kuwabara looked at him confused wondering what he was muttering. Kurama on the other hand listened closely and was surprised when he heard Hindi dialect.

_hamen saansaarik aag kee lapaton se surakshit rakhen (Protect of us from the earthly flames)_

_narak kee blazais karane ke lie (To the blazes of hell)_

_oh shaktishaalee ganga (Oh mighty Ganga)  
_

It was barely visible but Kuwabara and Kurama could make out a faint light around nobunaga and for a moment they could see blue symbols appear on his skin before they disappeared just as quickly. Slowly the light dispersed towards them and they found that they did not feel the heat as much as before.

"If you keep near me you won't feel the heat as much. It's a simple barrier spell to repel against fire but it should do." he explained.

"What kinda weird words were you saying anyway?" Kuwabara raised an eyebrow at him. "That sounded weirder than that other one you chanted when you brought out that fire giant.

"First of all Kuwabara that was Hindi I was just chanting it's a dialect spoken in India. Second, when I summoned Prometheus I was speaking Latin. Every spell depends on where it came from so the dialect must be spoken in order for it to work." Nobunaga explained.

Kuwabara just raised a hand to his head. "I think you're gonna have to explain that to me later."

"Exactly how many languages do you know for different spells?" Kurama asked him curious.

"I'll explain later. Let's just say my Sanskrit's rusty though." Nobunaga spoke.

Back in the ring Zeru kept trying to taunt Hiei into attacking. "Well? Are you afraid? What do you think about this power?"

Hiei merely stood unflinching. "Stop playing and come at me. I'm waiting."

Suddenly with a burst of speed Zeru lunged at Hiei thrusting his hand through his body and setting his body aflame.

Everyone watched in shock as Hiei's body lay on the ring burning.

"Ah...! A single blow!" Kuwabara was the first to speak trying to rid himself of shock.

"The hell?" Nobunaga questioned and raised an eyebrow not believing that the short fire demon could have been taken down like that. He had chopped Seiryuu of the five saint beasts into mincemeat for crying out loud!

"How funny." Zeru chuckled watching the flames consume the body. "He's a fool." He turned to walk out of the ring.

"Beautiful attack..." Zeru froze hearing the voice. His head whipped around to find Hiei standing up the flames still burning around him. The blaze had burned away the cloth around his forehead revealing his Jagan eye.

"Impossible!" Zeru spoke in shock "You're not dead yet?"

Energy began to build up around Hiei. "You're going to be the first victim on Earth of the Joah Ensatsu Ken."

Kurama and Nobunaga couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"Joah Ensatsu Ken?! That's impossible! When was he able to learn that!?" Kurama yelled in shock.

"Forget when! The real question is **where** the f**k did he learn that!?" Nobunaga was practically screaming as his body was frozen in shock. "That's a summoning that even I don't want to possess! Much less on Earth!" He froze and turned to Kurama. "Wait... Can he use it in this realm?!"

"What are you two going on about?!" Kuwabara looked at their panicked faces. If they had that kind of expression it had to be bad news. "What kind of attack is that?"

Nobunaga ran a hand through black tresses trying to calm himself. "Joah Ensatsu Ken... Dragon of the darkness flame... It's a type summoning but it's one of the most dangerous known to the three realms." As Nobunaga spoke black flames suddenly burst from Hiei's right arm.

Zeru looked at him in a mixture of shock and terror. "Black flames!? He successfully mastered the flames of darkness!?"

"I don't have the control yet! It's only a question of time!" Hiei said a twisted grin appeared on his face. Nobunaga turned paler than normal as the fire demon said this.

He and Kurama looked at each other. "Grab Yusuke and bring him over here. If what Hiei said is true and he hasn't been able to exercise some form of control over that summoning's power, the barrier I have up right now won't even withstand the flames much less keep us safe if it goes rampant." As Kurama heaved Yusuke over his shoulder Nobunaga had his hands in prayer position again.

"Wait what the hell are black flames!?" Kuwabara yelled getting his attention. Nobunaga's face was grim.

"They are the flames that come from the deepest pits of hell itself... That dragon is the very embodiment of chaos. Those who have used it must sacrifice a part of themselves. Most weren't able to control what the dragon could take from them and it usually devoured their souls into the hell that's it stomach or it took away every last bit of their humanity or sanity. It's for that very reason that it is a summoning that I have chosen to never obtain. Even I don't think I'd be able to keep my sanity intact with that creature."

Kuwabara immediately paled at his words. "... Can you teach me how to do that barrier thing? Maybe with two people it'll be twice as strong?" He put his hands into prayer position as well. Nobunaga let out a humorless chuckle as his expression remained grim.

"Just stay near me and you'll be fine moron." The exile muttered and began chanting in Hindi again as Kurama now stood by him with Yusuke in tow. This time the two could see that the barrier around them appeared to be strengthening. Nobunaga kept chanting all the while trying to keep his spirit energy at the lowest level he could possibly manage. It was taxing to say the least.

* * *

Everyone in the stadium watched as the dark flames began to surround Hiei cancelling out Zeru's completely. "I'll only use my right arm." He grinned. "Sorry but you'll have to disappear." The flames were now surrounding him leaving scorch marks around his part of the ring. The heat was becoming so intense that it was now burning Hiei's shirt to ashes.

"Look well. Your amateur fire tricks are nothing compared to what I will do." Hiei began to walk closer. ""The power of the Jagan..."

Zeru let out a noise. The power emanating from Hiei was so immense that he was paralyzed in his spot.

Koto on the other hand began to back away and ran off toward the edge of the ring "I know that my duties as referee and commentator call for me to stay in the ring but it's too dangerous! Excuse me but I have to get myself to safety!" She yelled into the microphone and jumped out of the ring ducking for cover.

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!" Hiei announced. "BLACK DRAGON!" He thrust his right arm toward Zeru and the black flames spiraled towards the other flame user, the dragon's mouth opening wide in order to consume him.

"S**t get ready!" Kuwabara yelled holdinjg up his arms in a defensive position preparing for the worst. Nobunaga's brow furrowed as he kept chanting, watching for any loss of control. If Hiei did manage to lose control of that beast then it would mean hell for all of them.

All that could be heard in the stadium was the sound of the flames cancelling out with a great noise along with a wave of intense heat. Koto the announcer held steady as the wave blew over. Nothing but silence now. Carefully she peeked over the edge of the ring and was shocked when she saw that only Hiei stood in the ring. There was no sign of Zeru.

"In one strike!" Kuwabara muttered as he Kurama and Nobunaga looked on. Nobunaga sighed as relief flooded his system and let down the barrier. "F**k I was really expecting the worst..." His shoulders slumped. Kurama went to prop Yusuke against the wall behind them and walked back toward the other two.

"It seems that Hiei truly was able to exercise some form of control in the end." The fox spoke. Nobunaga and Kuwabara merely grunted.

Koto turned around for a moment before going pale and shaking. "O-oh my... the wall..." All that was left of Zeru was his blackened imprint burned into the wall. He had been completely incinerated.

Gaou and Imajin began to pale seeing at what had become of their teammate. "I don't believe it..." Was all Gaou could utter in disbelief.

Hiei smirked still holding his right hand out. "A successful combustion. I leave his shadow as a souvenir."

Koto shakily spoke into the microphone. "Ahh... I think it would be rather silly of me to do a countdown after that. The winner of this match is Hiei!"

"Hah! Too easy! They can all tremble!" Kuwabara yelled triumphant. Nobunaga just gave him a look.

"You're saying that like you won your match." The exile muttered ready to give him another blow to the head if needed. Kuwabara however ignored him. Then the human froze in shock as if realizing something.

"His blow is deadly... We never know... He can always change sides..." He spoke fear lacing his tone. Nobunaga sighed in slight annoyance. If someone in the past had told him he would be around demons and humans like these people he would probably have laughed at the audacity of it. However while he may have still harbored his views on demons and humanity these people were separated from that viewpoint. Hiei had proven that he had a code he followed during their mission at Maze Castle. He would not be breaking his own rules anytime soon.

Kuwabara flinched as Hiei glanced at him walking past. "Don't worry, I'm with you until the end of the tournament. My technique isn't completely perfected." He reassured.

Nobunaga slumped again at that sentence. "You're telling us... I'm not gonna lie, you had the rest of us thinking that thing was going to reduce everything to ashes."

* * *

On the other side of the ring Gaou and Imajin were backing away from the ring in terror. "You saw Zeru?" Gaou murmured to the other.

"In one blow..." Imajin stammered.

Suddenly they backed away as fast as they could surprising Rinku. "There's nothing I can do against him, I'm done for!" Gaou yelled panicked.

"We just came to kill for fun!" Imajin yelled. "They said it would be easy!"

Nobunaga looked a tad bit annoyed at this but relieved as well. Though those two were weak he wouldn't have to exert any power fighting them. It meant less of a chance of being discovered by anyone. He glanced over toward Yusuke who was still dead in sleep. _When the hell is he going to wake up anyway?_

His thoughts were cut short though when suddenly something decapitated Gaou and Imajin's heads clean off on the spot. The bodies fell to the grass staining it crimson as blood bubbled from where the heads had been severed. The Urameshi team watched as a figure appeared in the ring tossing the heads of the two demons onto the grass below. Here stood a six foot something man with a blue mohawk that ended in two tails at the end decked out in a black leather coat with fur around the neck and on the black pant legs. If you saw him once you'd never forget him.

"These guys don't have any sense of humor!" He spoke with an Australian sounding accent. "Really pathetic..."

"Chuu!" Rinku exclaimed thankful for the appearance of his teammate.

Chuu turned to the referee. "Hey Sheila? I've lost two members of the team. What do I do?"

Koto jumped still a bit shaken from Hiei's fight and now the fact that this one had decapitated two members of his own team. "W-we have a single replacement per team. You'll have to finish the tournament on your own!" She explained.

Chuu just smirked walking toward the center of the ring with a cigarette in his mouth. "Well... I guess I have to stuff around with the pathetic pair remaining." Koto crinkled her nose as she smelled the sour stench of alcohol wafting off of the fighter.

Kurama studied the fighter. His eyes widened though and he covered his mouth and nose with his hand. "What in the world?"

Nobunaga raised an eyebrow at him and sniffed the air for a moment before doing the same. "Damn he smells like he consumed an entire bar's worth of alcohol!" He dared another wiff and cringed. "Ugh... strong stuff too. I'm mostly smelling vodka and whiskey."

Kuwabara gave Chuu a hard look. "That guy... I have a bad feeling... He's emitting less power than Zeru did but there's something!"

"And up we go." A voice that they hadn't heard since last night spoke. The team turned to find that Yusuke had finally woken up from his long sleep.

"And so sleeping beauty finally arises." Nobunaga deadpanned.

"That stink of alcohol." Yusuke murmured. "Woke me up from my nap."

Once again Nobunaga deadpanned. "If that was what you called a nap I'd hate to see what you call a full night's rest."

* * *

In the stands Keiko could see that Yusuke had finally woken up. "That idiot finally woke up from his nap. What was he doing sleeping the whole time anyway?"

Yusuke's mother Atsuko yelled over the crowd of demons. "Demolish him!"

Koenma was looking over towards the human women with him and sighed. He really wished Botan had been able to keep them at bay.

* * *

"He piss his pants already?" Chuu questioned getting impatient. "Get your ass in the ring and fight me already kid! I've got drinking to get to!"

Yusuke smirked cracking his knuckles. "I just need to exercise a bit. He'll be my morning workout."

Chuu smirked amused. "A workout?"

Suddenly the crowd erupted in chants yelling 'Kill him!', 'Kill the human!'

Kuwabara began to sweat as the chants increased in tempo and volume. "I sense a fearsome force... We don't know what he's capable of!"

"Hmph. He's a bluff." Hiei scoffed.

Nobunaga looked down at the fire demon. _We won't know unless we actually see. _He thought.

"You'll see for yourself exile." Hiei spoke making him frown.

"Stay out of the privacy of my mind." Nobunaga muttered. Hiei merely smirked in return.

Kuwabara suddenly changed his train of thought. "I think that he'll do it. I think one of us will win!" Hiei and Nobunaga just gave him blank looks.

"I don't think either of us are going to want to know what just went through his mind. The way he switches emotions like that is actually a bit scary." Nobunaga muttered.

"Agreed." Came Hiei's reply.

Kurama studied the scene before him as Yusuke walked toward the ring. _It's not obvious. It's going to be difficult... Zeru was strong. Hiei was even obliged to take his strike. He charred a master of flames... Hiei must have compromised himself... Nobunaga did say that those who summon the dragon of the darkness flame must sacrifice a part of themselves... often with the dragon taking a part of it's own choice... Hiei sacrificed his right arm. That arm must be suffering._

He looked toward Hiei who had his hands in his pockets. He found Nobunaga also glancing down at the fire demon's arms. _He can't use it again._ Then he turned to Chuu._ This one is different from Zeru... He's emitting a strange force unknown._

Nobunaga looked over at Chuu frowning as he felt the energy around the demon._ There's something not right about his spiritual energy. He might be down playing it on purpose to trick Yusuke. Then there's the stench of alcohol. It's almost like it's mixing in with that energy. Yusuke's making a big mistake underestimating him..._

Chuu stared down Yusuke for a moment. "You speak of a little exercise?" Suddenly he disappeared from sight before reappearing with Koto's microphone in hand. "Just gonna borrow this for a moment Sheila. Testin' one, two..."

The referee jumped in surprise. "What the- I didn't even see him!"

"One word before we start! Listen to me well! Yeah you're interested in hearin' this!" He spoke into the microphone. Everyone waited for him to speak again. This time he yelled. "THERE ISN'T ANY JANKEN WHICH I'M BAD AT! I'M NOT AFRAID OF ANYONE!"

Crickets were heard throughout the stadium.

Koto took out a spare microphone. "Allow me to explain. It seems that the team had decided the order of participants through a game a janken and that's how he became the replacement! It seems that Chuu is actually the boss of the team!" She explained.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Chuu yelled.

Rinku felt sweat come down in embarrassment at his teammate. "He's flat out drunk!"

Kurama face palmed as Kuwabara muttered "moron..."

Nobunaga just looked blankly shoulders slumped. "I can't figure out what I want to do more: laugh my ass off right now or just leave..."

Yusuke on the other hand began grinning a threw his jacket to the side. "Good enough! Shall we start?"

Chuu on the other hand seemed to get ticked off even more. "BASTARD DON'T YOU LOOK DOWN ON ME! I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU! I'M A MASTER OF ALCOHOL!"

Nobunaga looked at the demon amused. "Wanna take that bet? I can make pretty good moonshine that'll burn your throat going down."

Kurama was about to say something but closed his mouth deciding against it. Kuwabara on the other hand looked at him interested. "You make liquor?"

Nobunaga merely grinned impishly. "The prohibition era was a hell of a time."

Chuu continued. "The more I drink, the stronger I get! I don't have any rules! I use my instinct to bring down my opponents! You see?"

Yusuke merely laughed again. "That's the beauty of the dispute... But you probably know how to do something else as well. It's amazing that you don't know that talk. You must have a special attack?" Yusuke's eyes now grew hard.

Chuu smirked. "You're insightful." Chuu suddenly began to sway leaving images in his wake. "At last a real opponent."

"START!" Koto announced.

Chu began moving around fluidly. It looked as if his feet were never leaving the ground.

"He's fluid in his movement." Kurama noted. "He has good self-control. Judging what he will do next will be difficult."

Chuu began with a strike towards Yusuke's face. The human was barely able to block the attack but he couldn't block the uppercut to the torso that followed. The hit sent him flying and Chuu struck again while Yusuke's was in mid-air.

Nobunaga swore under his breath. "Chuu is using 'Drunken Fists'. Combine it with that kind of speed though and it becomes a much more dangerous form."

Yusuke's went for a blow to the head but Chuu immediately dodged it with a blur of speed. Yusuke was sent flying into the wall as Chuu struck him with a high kick.

"An unstoppable series of blows!" Koto announced. "Urameshi is outside the ring defenseless!" The crowd kept roaring with their chants for bloodshed as they watched the scene unfold.

Chuu stood waiting for the count. "Well? Have you given up already? I thought you wanted to see my special attack?"

Kuwabara looked over at the pile of rubble where Yusuke was currently buried. "Dammit it's too much for Urameshi! Rinku is nothing compared to this!"

Just as Koto was about to start the count Yusuke burst from the rubble and jumped back into the ring. "F**k I almost had to stay there!" He said shaking his arm out a bit.

Vaguely in the crowd Atsuko could be heard yelling "YEAH THAT'S IT! SHOW YOUR GUTS!" Nobunaga wondered how long it would be before Kuwabara and Yusuke realized that those people were here watching them.

"This fight is starting to please me. You too?" Yusuke questioned the demon who smirked in return.

"Yeah it's cool... It suits me."

"Urameshi has returned to the ring." Koto announced. "We can now continue the match!"

Kuwabara nodded his head. "Well done Urameshi!"

Yusuke lifted his hand up his spirit energy building up in the form of his spirit gun. Suddenly he aimed his hand in the other direction firing the energy off toward another part of the stadium.

"That's the first reigun! I still have three for the moment. I'm limited to four per day, but I still have the possibility of growing in power." He explained much to the chagrin of Kuwabara who yelled furious.

"Why the hell would you tell that to your opponent!? Moron!" The other human ranted.

Chuu on the other hand burst into boisterous laughter at this. "He's really thick this guy is! Really funny!" He wobbled on his feet a bit before continuing. "I had way too many drinks during the wait. I think I'm drunk!" He reached into a side pocket pulling out a tiny vial. "This here is a drink called Ogresbane." He lifted it to his lips pouring the contents into his mouth.

"Wait he's going to do that!?" Rinku yelled shocked.

Nobunaga raised an eyebrow as he heard this. "Ogresbane? I have to give him credit. Most apparitions can't stomach even a small swig of that."

Kurama looked over at him. "I've heard of the drink before. They say that the alcohol proof is at such a high level even that even a few sips of it will likely cause heavy damage of the liver."

"It's really that strong?" Kuwabara spoke hearing him.

"Let's just say a human would probably die of liver failure from just a sip of that s**t." Nobunaga explained. "Have you ever heard that if you drink something with enough alcohol that you can strengthen a fire by blowing on it?" Kuwabara gave a nod. "If you were to drink Ogresbane and blow on a fire you'd be feeding it so much with one exhale that you'd get consumed by the flames." Kuwabara's eyes widened as he turned back to the fight.

"That guy must have one hell of a liver then." The human muttered.

"Indeed." Kurama spoke.

Everyone watched with baited breath as Chuu suddenly went stiff. Grunted erupted from him becoming louder and louder. Suddenly he inhaled.

Only to throw up over the edge of the ring.

"Talk about anti-climatic..." Nobunaga said face palming.

Rinku laughed a bit embarrassed. "Well... He's obliged to do that to get his power to rise. Chuu's going to become himself! Since he's an expert in drunken fists, he takes his power from his drunkness!"

As soon as Rinku had said that Everyone had noticed a change in Chuu.

"He looks less drunk?" Kurama noted. "No, he's changing!"

Chuu stood up with a glint in his eye. "Phew... That's good..." His energy began to gather around him and soon he was whirling it around his hands. "The technique of Renkinyou Jutsu. Here I saved this for you!"

"Chuu is beginning to emit a strange force! It's straining around his hands as he tries to maneuver it around like a pile of clay!" Koto observed.

Nobunaga's eyes widened as he put two and two together. "The guy's an alchemist! The alcohol was serving as a catalyst to make his energy skyrocket!"

"To reinforce his strike... A strange demon indeed..." Hiei observed.

Chuu managed to mold his energy into a glowing sphere. Kurama and Kuwabara looked on in shock. "That ball looks like Urameshi's reigun!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

The same power as well... He made it in an instant."

"The test of strength!" Chuu yelled as he and Yusuke charged toward each other. "Get ready!"

"When you want!" Yusuke yelled back. Both of them launched their attacks. Chuu throwing his sphere and Yusuke launching another blast concentrated blast of energy. Both attacks hit each other dead on now struggling to hold. They finally exploded sending a gust of wind through the ring. Yusuke and Chuu met at the middle and began throwing punch after punch striking each other.

"Kuwabara grit his teeth as he watched the fight. "They're not taking any care!"

"If one of the two backs down, the other lands a hit. They musn't resist under pressure." Hiei spoke.

Chuu quickly made another energy sphere.

"It's now or never!" Rinku yelled as he watched.

"They're using too much energy. If they continue, they're going to regret it." Hiei muttered.

Nobunaga grunted his eyebrows furrowing. "At this rate they may resort to burning up their life-forces."

_They're equals_. Kurama thought._ They're not going to take a chance like that._

This time the sphere that Chuu hurled was even stronger hurtling towards the human.

"Here it comes!" Nobunaga exclaimed.

"S**T! WATCH OUT!" Kuwabara yelled in alarm.

_More powerful than the reigun technique! _Thought Kurama as he watched.

_He's badly placed. He's going to take it. _Was Hiei's thoughts as the sphere came closer to Yusuke.

Yusuke held his hand out again preparing to fire another blast to counter the oncoming sphere. Chuu watched on smirking at the attempt. This sphere he had sent was stronger than the last. A technique like the reigun would not be able to deter it from its course. However, Yusuke fired two shots instead of one.

"A double-shot!?" Chuu exclaimed. Both blasts shot through the sphere hurtling towards the demon.

"It broke through but the sphere's still going!" Kuwabara said. Two explosions rang throughout the stadium as the attacks hit both fighters.

Koto ran over to assess the damage but to her shock there was no trace of either fighter. "They've disappeared! Have they dodged or maybe they were both blasted to smithereens?" She stopped when she heard the sound of heavy breathing directly behind her and turned to find both the human and the demon still standing.

"They're right behind me!" She exclaimed in shock.

Chuu gave a small smirk as he panted. "You used the remaining three... What's more... You ended up burning all your energy up... Your tank's completely empty. I'm right aren't I?"

Yusuke gave a smirk of his own in return. "Yeah..."

Chuu shook a little trying to keep his balance. Both of them had taken a substantial amount of damage from the attacks they had unleashed. Suddenly they began to chuckle and it wound up escalating into full blown laughter.

"They're bloody and they're laughing! I'm having a hard time understanding what's going on!" Koto observed mentally wondering if the blows the two had received wound up giving them some kind of brain damage.

"Time to finish this." Chuu said.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Yusuke replied still huffing.

"To finish, we'll play using these!" Chuu pulled two daggers from his pocket and stabbed them into the stone below them with quite an amount of force.

"What is that guy doing? He stabbed those knives into the ground with so much force..." Kuwabara wondered.

"Take off your shoes and place your foot against the dagger." Chuu said. "The limit is fixed by the knife. You can't pass it. If you cross the line, you've gotta die. It's my go I'm waiting for the signal!" This last sentence was told to the referee who stuttered a 'yes!'

Yusuke and Chuu stared each other down. Chuu tightened his hand into a fist. "A real body to body! An old-style of fight!"

Anticipation filled the stadium as everyone awaited the signal to start the death match. "LET'S GO!" Koto gave the signal. As soon as those words left her mouth, punches flew and blood splattered onto the the stone of the ring. Chuu aimed a punch to Yusuke's gut causing the human's foot to dig into the knife. The brawl continued and the scent of blood did not waver. Finally Chuu aimed a punch at Yusuke's face and was about to end it with an old-fashioned head-butt.

"DIE!" He yelled thrusting his head forward. Yusuke however met the collision head on with a head-butt of his own. The collision made a resounding crack and the stadium grew quiet as the atmosphere heavy with tension.

Chuu fell to the ground, his head cracking the stone as it made contact.

"He finished him?" Kuwabara was speechless.

"Heh... He was tough... That was the limit for me..." Yusuke chuckled a bit as Koto finished the count.

"WINNER URAMESHI! THREE AGAINST ONE! THE VICTORY IS FOR THE URAMSEHI TEAM!"

"YES! Kuwabara cheered. "We've cleared the first round!"

Rinku ran toward his fallen teammate to assess the damage. "Chuu?" No response. "He's completely out cold... For him to be beaten... I didn't think there'd ever be anyone with a thicker skull that could rival his..."

"Hey kid!" Yusuke called out startling the small demon

"YES!" Rinku jumped startled.

Yusuke smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "When he wakes up... Tell him that we can have a rematch whenever he wants."

"Y-yes..." Rinku stammered. _This guy's completely insane!_

The stadium was filled with chanting to kill them, though this time they wanted Chuu and Rinku to be the ones to die because hey had lost to a team comprised of two 'traitorous' demons and what they believed to be four humans.

"Asses..." Kuwabara growled.

"Let them be." Rinku muttered in annoyance at the crowd. "They're too afraid to fight themselves."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Yusuke yelled his eyes alight with an enraged spark. "C'mon you pansies! I wanna see one demon set his ass down here so I can kick his ass across this island! Come here! Come play with us!"

"I'm ready!" Kuwabara stated. Hiei, Kurama, the masked fighter and Nobunaga did not speak but the icy glares from them challenged the demons in the stands as well. If one were to look closely, one would have been able to see the flicker of gold across Kurama's eyes and the faint yellow glow in Nobunaga's.

Yusuke turned to Nobunaga. "Hey Naga... Do you think you'd mind patching up Chuu real quick? At least so Rinku can help him out of the ring.

Nobunaga didn't say anything but he gave a curt nod stepping into the ring towards the to demons. He stooped down to Chuu and looked over to Rinku who flinched slightly at Nobunaga's blank gaze.

"give me a hand with him will you? His worst injuries are on his torso and his head." He muttered summoning the white flames of his healing spell.

"Y-yes..." Rinku spoke as best as he could helping lift Chuu so that the worst of his injuries could be healed. Apparently it helped because a moment later, Chuu regained consciousness but he remained silent.

Nobunaga walked back toward his team when suddenly a demon in the stands suddenly began yelling again which caused an uproar again.

"SCUM KILL THEM! KIL-" The one that had started it again was cut off and began to gag on the blood now pouring out of its mouth and throat. Nobunaga had swiftly yanked one of the knives from its place in the stone and threw it with enough force and precision to pierce the demon's esophagus. The crowd quieted down in shock as the demon drowned in its own blood turning toward the young man who had thrown it. Nobunaga's arm was still in the throwing position. He looked towards the stands and a twisted grin found it's way on his face.

"The next one who squeals, I'll crush you like a f**king roach. Spineless pests." He said voice like icy daggers.

As the team left no one made a sound until they were completely gone. As the exited the stadium back to the hotel to clean up Nobunaga glanced out of the corner of his eye. During the round he had sensed the presence of something foreboding.

The presence of another witch.

Rinku watched as they left and the stadium went back in an uproar. He felt himself shiver. When Nobunaga had thrown the knife, his eyepatch had shifted slightly.

Rinku could have sworn he had seen the eerie glow of blue frost set within black sclera.

* * *

Author's note: Finally a new chapter! Well I sincerely hope that this chapter was worth the wait. I'll be updating the rest of my stories during the break as well so stay tuned! Please remember to review! Also please note that I do not speak Hindi or any language that will b listed throughout the story. I use google translate for the spells.

Notes:

Ganga- The goddess of the Ganges river in Hinduism.

Spell in the chapter- Prayer of Ganga (I made this up)


	18. Howláak

Hello everyone. thank you for your patience. So here we are with chapter 18 of 'The Exile'. Before you go on reading please know that this chapter is mostly for informative purposes before the the fight with the Ichigaki team. Also as I said in the author's note I posted previously, please re-read the story from the beginning as I had to re-write certain things in order to fit some aspects I wanted to put in.

I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own Nobunaga, his family, and his antagonist that will be revealed soon in the story. Also any spells that I use are made up by me and are referenced from different RPG games such as kingdom hearts or Bravely Default.

I accept criticism but I will not tolerate flames. If you have a suggestion or a critique that you think could improve this story then by all means please post a review or send a private message. If you feel there are more chapters I need to rewrite or tweak then by all means say so. I merely wish to have a second opinion about how to clean up my writing technique. Once again if you guys are returning readers and read the author's note from before I hope you read from chapter 1 again

* * *

Chapter 18: Howláak

Morning appeared to have arrived in the blink of an eye as the next round of the tournament began. Though Team Urameshi would not be fighting until the day after, it did not stop one of their own from scoping out their next opponents. Kurama stood at the mouth of one of the entryways observing the fight below with sharp green eyes committing every relevant detail to memory. His stark white fighting robes were repaired the night before and the cross cut on his face already healed courtesy of his demonic nature. Yusuke and Kuwabara were out and about on the island training if memory served him correctly. As for Nobunaga, the masked fighter, and Hiei, their whereabouts were unknown to him.

The opponents they would be facing in their own match were the Ichigaki team consisting of three humans and two demons. It wasn't a surprise to Kurama that the humans of that group were manipulated into fighting. On each mortal's back was a device that penetrated their flesh much like a parasite from the Makai. He couldn't help but ponder on how the three were roped into fighting in the first place.

"How curious..." Kurama muttered as he watched one of the humans behead his opponent in a single move. This earned the Ichigaki team the remaining point needed to move onto the next round. However the surviving fighter from the opponents' side did not have enough. It was clear that this demon was itching for blood to be spilled in the ring. He didn't last five seconds.

The fox watched as the humans were led out of the stadium by a short demon with a smug look on his face. "And that is who we fight next." He muttered under his breath. He turned his attention back to the ring as the announcer introduced the next match.

"It's time for the final match of the day!" Koto spoke into the microphone. "This will be the last one of the series and the winner of this match will join the best eight that will be moving on to the next round of the Dark Tournament. That round will also be the selection of the finalists! Now without further ado we have our last contestants and preceding victor the Toguro Brothers!" The demons in the audience cheered wildly and though Kurama's expression did not change shock registered in his system when he saw that only the younger of the Toguro brothers entered the stadium.

"There is only one..." He muttered to himself eyes narrowing. Younger Toguro was going to face all five opponents at once in a five on one handicap match. The fox's hands tightened into fists as he watched. The fight barely made it into three seconds and only one remained. Toguro left nothing alive and merely stepped out the ring that was now filled with corpses of demons who never stood a chance.

* * *

In the woods to the far east of the island, Nobunaga stood alone at the edge of a cliff watching as waves pounded onto the rocky shore below. The exile thought back to the witch's energy that he'd sensed after the team's first match. He couldn't pinpoint where exactly it was coming from but he knew that the other was watching him. The lingering presence still weighed heavily on his mind.

Witches, for all the years that he'd been alive, avoided his existence with extreme caution knowing of what befell their previous queen, Nataku. Some did not heed it and tried to hoard his soul for their own power only for him to wipe them out in a moment's notice. After all this time why was this witch releasing energy? Why now?

"My, aren't you lovely..." A female voice crooned silkily behind him. A shudder of warning made its way through Nobunaga's spine as he stood straight. Slowly he turned around to find a woman standing a few feet away from him.

She stood around his height with dark skin the color of copper and loose ashen grey hair. Round, bright emerald eyes gleamed with malevolence and power as lips stretched into a frightening grin with sharp fangs. Although her hair was grey, she looked like a woman in her mid-twenties. She wore a dress that stopped at her ankles decorated with beads and feathers while her feet remained bare. The assailant was quite a lovely sight but the exile knew better than to let her physical appearance fool him. At Nobunaga's guarded expression she let loose a husky chuckle. "Afraid of me? Don't worry sweetie I won't bite... At least... Not for now..." A darker chuckle escaped her lips and the exile's eyes narrowed into slits.

"What do you want?" He bit out studying the female's form in front of him. Her arms were crossed in amusement as she stood still.

"Now, now... I simply came to chat. You know I must say, I didn't heed to any of the rumors but now that I look at you... You really are the splitting image of that woman you call your mother." Nobunaga stiffened at this and if at all possible, her grinned widened.

"Oh don't give me that look. Nearly every witch knew of Nataku's beauty. 'Hair like the darkness of night, eyes that shown the fury of earth and water set within skin as pale as the freshly fallen snow. Of course you also seem to have traces of... shinigami." She said making a face of disgust as if the very word left a sour taste in her mouth. "To think that out of all the males she could have consummated with, it was a shinigami of all species. An enemy of witch kind."

"Tell me what you want. I'm not in the mood for games." Nobunaga hissed resisting the urge to hack this woman into pieces.

"Oh? Don't you realize that this tournament is all one big game? Demons and those filthy humans get to watch us tear one another apart in a bloody battle royale for their own amusement. To them we are just expendable pawns. Entertainment." She spoke still grinning. "But I will get straight to the point 'Exile of Worlds'. I simply came to wish you good luck fighting along side those welps you call teammates. You'll need it to survive."

Suddenly she disappeared. Nobunaga's eyes widened as he summoned his knuckle blades blocking an attack that came from his right. The force pushed him back slightly although he managed to hold his ground. Straining against each blade was a Tomahawk. Each one had a spike that extended from the back of the weapon. The exile finally had enough of the woman and sent a pulse of white energy coursing though his weapons. Before the energy could touch her, the woman disappeared in the blink of an eye only to reappear a few feet away.

Nobunaga shifted into offense prepared to attack. "I will only repeat this one more time. "You will tell me your name and why you toy with me." He snarled.

The woman tsked and pouted but complied stowing away her weapons in a flash of purple energy. "Here I thought I could use my tomahawks a bit more." The grin on her face came back. "I am called Howláak."

Nobunaga's narrowed eyes sparked dangerously. "The Devourer of Souls. You're infamous among the covens for eating massive numbers of souls to gain strength."

Howláak laughed. Dangerous mirth danced within her emerald orbs. "You flatter me child. Don't fret. I have no intention of eating you so soon in the tournament." She walked a few steps forward yet kept her distance knowing the danger of angering the exile any further. She'd heard about Nobunaga for as long as he had been wandering around the realms and knew of the stories told of the amount of blood spilled on his hands. Demons, Reikai, and witches alike.

"Although... I am quite curious." She spoke again. "While I don't deny that I have eaten numerous souls to gain my power, you speak of it as though it is any worse than what you have done. I know of the amount of blood stained on your hands. You know it as well."

Nobunaga let out an inaudible huff at this. "Souls are not needed to give me strength. The blood on my hands belongs to those who have wanted me dead whether it is due to my existence or for their own gain. I do not kill without purpose."

"Details, details." Howláak waved her hand dismissing it. "Allow me to let you in on something exile. I am fighting on Team Toguro. Don't misunderstand me. I could less about what happens to the rest of those fools I'm currently stuck with. However..." She grinned again. "I was told a little tidbit by the brothers about you fighting alongside two humans and two demons. How intriguing to know that one who has been running his whole life is suddenly fighting alongside the very beings he despises." Howláak's voice taunted.

"I will win this retched tournament and once I do, that wish will be mine... Along with that delectable soul of yours." She said licking her lips at the mere thought of his power coursing through her veins.

Nobunaga was about to retort angrily when Howláak spoke again. "Do you know what I want as my wish Exile?"

When he didn't answer her she vanished again. Nobunaga held his blades up and focused feeling her come up behind him. Just as he was about to strike a voice whispered in his ear.

"My wish is to become the next Witch Queen..." With that her spiritual energy disappeared from the area entirely. Nobunaga was left still as stone as the words processed in his head. Slowly but surely he was brought back to Earth by the feeling of something dripping from his palms. Looking down, he saw that his hands were curled into fists and his nails had become claws piercing the skin. Streams of blood trailed down from his palms to his fingers. He hadn't even realized that he'd clenched his hands let alone so tightly. A snarl escaped his mouth as he made his way deeper into the forest.

It was time to train. This time it would not be against demons, but for a battle of witch versus witch. He needed to come up with a plan.

* * *

Shocks of pain were all that could be registered as Hiei kneeled on a stone below the cliffs in the sea. If pain had colors and shape, he would compare it to being shaped like sparks that flashed at persistent intervals ranging from stark white, to red hot. The fire apparition managed back another blood curdling scream as another wave of pain coursed through his injured arm, intensity more unbearable than the last. His upper body keeled over, forehead pressing against the rock. Sweat dripped from his body as he could nothing but let the pain wash over him with only the ocean waves crashing against the cliffs as his company.

* * *

"Wait you're kidding me!" Kuwabara's voice rang from inside the forest. He and Yusuke were currently in the eastern part of the forest surrounding Hanging man Island. Although the orange haired human originally wished to train with the leader of their team, Yusuke brought up a troubling issue.

He could not use the reigun.

Yusuke studied the forefinger of his right hand frowning. "I usually have a hard time trying to use it the next day but today I can't focus any of my energy into my finger at all." He explained.

Kuwabara frowned. "You're worn out that's all. I mean I'm wrecked from yesterday too but that'll pass."

Yusuke shook his head. "I don't know..."

The ginger's frown grew more pronounced at the tone of the other's voice. "That's worrying..."

They were brought out of their musings by a new voice. "That's because you wound up wasting too much of your power in your match against Chuu." The two males turned to the direction of the voice to find the masked fighter standing a few feet from them.

The fighter continued to explain. "The double-strike technique isn't a trick that can be used by beginners. Mastery takes years and right now you are much too young for that."

Kuwabara and Yusuke got closer and looked at each other agitated. They knew know that by voice alone, the masked fighter was definitely female. Just by looking at the other's facial expressions they could tell what the other was thinking.

_Wait! She's not the old lady! She sounds way too young! _Were Kuwabara's thoughts at the moment.

Yusuke's thoughts were along the same topic. _Dammit I thought it was the hag too! _Though the height matched that of Genkai's The fighter's voice was much softer than her gruff tone.

The fighter gave a slight roll of her visible eye though it was unnoticed by the other humans and she turned to leave. "Abstain from using the reigun. If you do not, you risk causing damage to your arm." Her words were directed not only to him but foreshadowed the damage Hiei inflicted upon himself using the dragon of the darkness flame.

* * *

*Later into the evening*

"You've gotta be kidding me." Yusuke muttered as he and Kuwabara both looked at the piece of paper he was currently holding in his hand. They had returned to the hotel room after picking up the roster for the finalist matches.

"All of this was planned so that we could meet Toguro in the final round." Kuwabara spoke as they looked over all the teams that would be fighting.

Yusuke let out a small huff. "We don't have any caretakers on this strike. Nobody even asked our opinion here."

Kurama and the masked fighter were in the room with them. The fox was looking over the roster with them whereas the fighter stayed in the room she shared with Nobunaga. Neither the exile nor Hiei returned yet. Kurama's eyes narrowed slightly. Hiei not returning did not trouble him. The fire wielding demon did after all say that he wouldn't be in the hotel room much. However he'd noticed that Nobunaga was tense after the first round the day before. Something was troubling him a lot.

The sound of the door opening caught their attention. Nobunaga entered and although his stance was lax, Kurama could tell that he was still very much on edge.

"Hey Naga where have you been?" Yusuke greeted. "Hiei still hasn't come back."

"I've been around the forest. As for Hiei he might still be around there. His energy was around but it was in wisps and I couldn't detect his presence around the building." Nobunaga explained. Then his eyes fell upon the paper in Yusuke's hands. "Is that the roster for the finals?"

Kurama nodded. "Yes. Tomorrow we face the Ichigaki team. It seems whowever else we face will be determined the following days afterward. However, no matter how we look at it, if we win all our matches we will inevitably face the Toguro brothers in the end."

Nobunaga's eyes narrowed. "So we'll have to make sure we win in the end no matter what."

Kurama studied him carefully. Yusuke and Kuwabara had also managed to hear the hidden malice in his voice. The fox caught the scent of dried blood and he immediately pulled up the exile's wrist much to the astonishment of the others.

Nobunaga had been wearing a short-sleeved black shirt that day and black pants tucked into his usual combat boots. The eyepatch was still in place over his left eye. Both of his hands were wrapped to the finger tips in thick white gauze but the scent of blood had Kurama curious. On the knuckles were small spots of crimson. However when he turned one of the hands over, the redness expanded over the palm of the hand and wrist. The same could be said for the other.

Yusuke let out a small whistle. "Damn Naga, were you training?"

The exile nodded. "I took the time to do so." He did not elaborate any further which concerned the fox. "Who are we fighting tomorrow?" He asked Kurama seeing as he'd gone back to the stadium to scope out their competition.

"We will be facing the Ichigaki team. They are composed of two demons and three humans much like us but lack a sixth member of their team. While I'm not aware of the demons' fighting capabilities, the humans annihilated their opponents. We must tread carefully."

"He's right." Nobunaga said glancing over at the two humans present. He felt the spirit energy of the masked fighter spike slightly letting him know that she was listening in as well. "The rounds will only become more difficult. One careless move and that will spell your death."

Yusuke and Kuwabara both nodded understanding the situation and decided to call it an early night knowing that they would have to be on top of their skills that following day.

* * *

Kurama could not sleep no matter how hard he tried to do so. The tournament worried him yes, but he was also worried about anymore attempts on his mother's life. He would admit that he was honestly terrified of that while he was away. He had no other allies other than his friends on his team. There were no eyes or ears back home that could tell him if all was well save for a plant from the Makai that he'd grown into the structure of the house for that very purpose. However that was only the house. Anywhere else was impossible to do.

He was alone in this room as there was still no signs of Hiei returning even after the rest of the team had turned in for the night. Feeling restless he left his bedroom and entered the main room only to find that it wasn't just him who was still awake. He could make out the outline of Nobunaga sitting on one of the couches. The exile was sitting cross-legged and it looked like he was spacing out. On the coffee table was a mason jar filled with a pale yellow liquid that contained a few green apple slices and sticks of cinnamon. It was clear by the smell that the male had brought liquor with him.

Nobunaga glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before picking his drink up again. "You couldn't sleep either huh?" He took a sip.

Kurama nodded slowly before taking a seat next to him. "Yes. What is troubling you?" He asked looking at the exile's hands once more. Nobunaga had healed his hands but the amount of blood that stained them earlier concerned the fox. He'd also noticed a few new scratches across the exile's face. "Don't think that I haven't noticed more than just the wounds on your hands. You were training for more than just the upcoming rounds weren't you?"

Nobunaga let out a humorless chuckle. "Can't hide anything from you can I fox?"

"I don't think you can hide anything from us for long either Naga." Yusuke's voice came from the other room. The two on the sofa looked up to find Yusuke and Kuwabara standing in their doorway. The two humans took a seat on the other piece of furniture looking at the exile. The sound of shifting on Kurama's other side indicated that the masked fighter was up as well. "Kuwabara said that your spiritual energy was spiking more than usual when you came back so spill. What's going on?"

Nobunaga took another sip of his apple whiskey, relishing the burn that followed the sweetness of apple and cinnamon. "Team Toguro has a witch fighting alongside them."

Everyone around him had varying looks of surprise etched onto their faces. "She confronted me earlier today in the forest. 'Wished us luck' because she confirmed that we would be facing them in the end if we won all our rounds." He explained. "It's worrisome not only because this is the first time I've ever had a witch confront me directly like this but because of who she is."

Kuwabara raised an eyebrow. "Well don't leave us in the dark: Who is she?"

"She is known as Howláak. An owl demon and a demon-born witch." Nobunaga spoke. Kurama's eyebrows rose and the masked fighter's visible eye widened slightly.

"The 'Devourer of Souls'. She is known throughout the Makai." Kurama spoke.

Nobunaga added to that. "She's also relatively famous among some covens in the Ningenkai. Especially those among Natives in America.

Kuwabara raised a hand lost on the conversation as did Yusuke. "Wait you lost both of us when you said she's a demon-born witch. What the heck does that mean?" The ginger-haired human asked.

This time the masked fighter spoke. "Among witches there are three classes: Human-born, Demon-born, and Soul-born." she spoke quietly. "Nobunaga is an example of a Soul-born witch as he is the offspring of two spirits."

Nobunaga took over her explanation. "Human-born witches are those who are the descendants of the first humans who practiced witchcraft. The magic that flowed through the veins of the predecessors is passed down to their descendants or reincarnations. Whichever comes first I suppose. Demon-born on the other hand are demons who become witches in two ways. The first way is practicing witchcraft themselves which allows the magic to fuse into their energy. The second is obtaining witch energy through means of devouring the souls of those who do practice witchcraft. Absorbing their souls allows their energy to enter the demon's making it now have their powers. Soul-born witches on the other hand are the rarest of the three classes. They are the offspring of two spirits and as a result they have a much higher affinity towards the magic arts than do the other two classes. As the masked fighter explained, I myself am partly a Soul-born witch as my mother was a soul-born herself and my father was a shinigami."

Yusuke piped up. "So this witch you ran into is a demon-born?" he asked getting the gist of it though he was still somewhat confused. Kurama nodded. "Howláak has gained her powers mainly by means of devouring the souls of other demons and witches. I have heard rumors that she has devoured the souls of Reikai spirits at times."

Kuwabara then brought up a point that he'd wondering about. "Wait so if she gets power from eating souls, why's she fighting with those guys on Team Toguro? I mean if she does you'd think she'd have tried to eat them by now?"

Nobunaga ran a hand through his hair, stress clear on his face. "It's because of the prize for the winner of the tournament. She's planning on using the wish to become the next Witch Queen."

Kurama and the masked fighter both froze leaving the other two humans slightly on edge. "Something tells me that title isn't just for show." Yusuke muttered.

Nobunaga shook his head. "I'm afraid not. It is a title given to the strongest of witches but it is also a title of political means. Those who wish to become ruler of their kind in the realms must undergo tests set by the previous ruler's court. The witches there are carefully hand selected by that ruler. If that candidate passes all their tasks then they must pass the final test which is to defeat the current King or Queen." He stopped to take another swig of liquor. "My guess is that she'll use the wish so that she can avoid either going through them or avoid having to fight the current ruler."

"So wait when your mother was killed did they have to pick a new one?" Yusuke asked him. Nobunaga nodded.

"That's correct. My mother was first deemed Witch Queen after she defeated the previous queen who was at the time, Morgan le Faye, a human-born. Each ruler creates a series of laws to ensure that there is balance between the classes. Some take up previous laws that have been set and then there are other times in which new laws that have been set cause for disruption especially between realms. The laws that my mother set long ago allowed for a more peaceful existence at the time though after she was killed the court chose a successor from one of their own until they could find someone else. If I'm not mistaken the current ruler is a demon-born by the name of Wakatoshi." He muttered.

"So we have to worry about another person besides the Toguro brothers." Yusuke mumbled. Kurama nodded. "I'm afraid so. Howláak is not one to care for politics. She is one who cares only for power and will destroy as many beings as she can to reach her goal."

"While I don't care for the damn title, I'm not letting her reach her goal. Unsurprisingly she wants to eat me. The title of ruler is a means of restoring order to all three classes. Something that has been problematic for a long time as there have always been issues among the three classes." Nobunaga spoke taking one last swig of whiskey before tightening the cap on it.

"We should all go back to bed." Kurama explained standing up. "We can't afford the luxury of staying up." With that the others went back to their rooms leaving Nobunaga and the fox there.

"This s**t just got ten times messier." The exile spoke. "Hiei probably won't be with us until morning. That arm of his has got to be in a tremendous amount of pain."

"I agree. At least it was only his arm though and not anything more. From now on we must watch our backs and each other lest we suddenly find ourselves in a danger that we cannot get out of. The black book club funds this 'tournament' and they will find ways for us to forfeit with our lives." Kurama spoke.

Nobunaga picked up his whiskey and stared the fox dead in the eye. "Well then let's not have them bring us down. Goodnight fox. Rest easy." He disappeared into his shared room.

"To you as well Nobunaga." He said heading into his room. As he lay in bed his mind drifted to how the rest of the tournament would end up. He truly hoped Hiei would be with them in the morning and that he would be healed enough to fight.

_Rest now Shūichi. Worrying about tomorrow will not prepare you._ Youko spoke softly in their shared mind. He could sense his counterpart's apprehension.

_**I will do my best though I can't say I will be able to sleep much these next nights.**_ It took a while but Kurama fell into an uneasy sleep. Uneasy yes, but still his body would be able to rest until he'd have to wake the next morning and prepare.

* * *

**Author's note: **This brings us to the end of chapter 18. I wanted the chapter to be this way in order to introduce Nobunaga's antagonist who we now know as Howláak. Her character is actually based on the folklore of a Native American tribe known as the Yakama who live on a reservation somewhere in the west if I am not mistaken. The folklore goes that there are demons who take the form of owl-like women who devour humans. For the most part they like to eat women and children. Howláak's name also comes from the tribe's dialect. I actually looked it up on an online dictionary and found that it translates to abyss which I thought would make a good name for her considering I made it that she eats souls to gain power.

Anyway please review, critique (be civil about it and no flames), and I shall see you all in the next chapter.

Ja'ne-Kitsune to Tenshi-chan


	19. Author's note: IM SORRY!

Ok guys I have to apologize I seriously messed up on one of the re-writes. Chapter 10 was supposed to be the revised version but when I looked again the chapter didn't upload and I am so mad right now because it took me a couple of days to re-do that and I deleted the document afterward and now I'm probably going to have to check the entire story again. Stay tuned and I'm sorry!


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